Anna Wintour sticks new Vogue chief Chloe Malle on Met Gala’s kids table

Some of Chloe Malle’s many admirers in the publishing industry fret that it could look like she’s being put at the kids’ table at this year’s Met Ball — at a vital time for Vogue.

The widely respected publishing star already faces an unenviable challenge: taking the helm of the fashion bible while her predecessor, Anna Wintour, remains a preponderant presence both at the magazine and in the culture at large.

Now, a few months into her tenure, insiders are irked the Met Gala’s very formal organizational structure could be seen as offering an awkwardly explicit demonstration of where Malle — who tenaciously rose through the ranks of the magazine from lowly social media editor to head of Vogue.com to being Wintour’s successor — is being put on the pecking order.

For decades, Wintour has enjoyed mutually reinforcing dual roles, leveraging her position as editor-in-chief of Vogue to reinvent the Costume Institute’s annual fundraiser as the world’s premiere fashion event, while using her role as gatekeeper of the ball to cement her place as the (mostly) benevolent dictator of the fashion industry.

But, even after Vogue has poured untold resources into burnishing the reputation of the bash, it seems Wintour intends to keep the gala’s glow on herself, rather than letting it help to anoint Vogue’s top staffer as a new fashion god in her own right.

As details about this year’s Met Costume Institute bash emerge, it turns out that Wintour will serve as a co-chair along with no less than Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams.

Then below that pantheon, there are Met Gala Host Committee co-chairs Anthony Vaccarello and Zoë Kravitz, and then Malle finally gets in on the action as a host committee “additional member” along with various model and actors. (Vaccarello is the designer for YSL, a sponsor of this year’s event).

“Anna’s making no attempt to even pretend to share the pedestal,” said a media insider, adding that the editor could easily use just a sliver of her vast power to ease Malle’s ascent.

Adding to the ardor is that Malle seems to be genuinely adored in the biz, with insiders comparing her to some of the most respected members of the profession along with Vanessa Friedman of the New York Times and Pulitzer-winner Robin Givhan.

Wintour, 75, announced last June that she was stepping down as editor-in-chief of American Vogue, a role she’d occupied since 1988. She named Malle as her successor in September, but with the title of head of editorial content. Wintour remains chief content officer for its publishing house Condé Nast and global editorial director of the magazine’s 28 editions around the world. 

Another insider pointed out that Vogue’s sister publication, Vanity Fair, which also got a new top editor in the last twelve months, made a huge song and dance about the ways in which incomer Mark Giuducci would put own his stamp on the the mag’s legendary Oscar night bash, radically redrawing the guest list and even hosting it at a brand new venue.

“They used its profile to announce him as the new guy in town,” said the insider. (It should be noted that it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, since Vanity Fair doesn’t share control of the bash with a partner, as Vogue does with the Costume Institute).

Another source ran with the “ball” idea, saying that instead of casting Malle as Cinderella, this arrangement could be seen to frame her as a lady-in-waiting to the queen.

A Vogue spokesperson told us, “Anna greatly values her collaboration with Chloe, and is continually struck by her vision and creativity.”

“Anna is a longstanding Trustee of the Museum and steadfast supporter of The Costume Institute, who has overseen its biggest fundraiser for decades and raised well over $280m,” they added, “Her role with the Museum has not changed and she remains Global Editorial Director of Vogue, and Chief Content Officer of Conde Nast — a company that has sponsored Costume Institute shows for many years and is the lead donor to the new galleries. Anna also played a leading role in helping the Museum fundraise for [its] renovation.”

It was named the Anna Wintour Costume Center in 2014.

A source close to the magazine said, “The Met Gala is a huge undertaking conducted by many at Vogue with the close partnership of the museum. Chloe, as US Head of Editorial Content, leads Vogue’s editorial coverage on the night.”

“It is an honor to be on the host committee, as it plays a key role in supporting the Costume Institute, and members act as ambassadors for the exhibition,” they added.