Anna Wintour is one of my heroes, but they say that I’m more influential. As great as it is, Vogue won’t change a designer’s business.

— Stylist-to-the-stars Rachel Zoe
“Being Rachel Zoe”
Sep 2007 The New York Times Magazine

Why It’s Moronic

Zoe (pronounced “zoh”) got tongues wagging when she made this comment about her celebrity and influence compared to Anna Wintour, the all-powerful editress of Vogue (upon whom The Devil Wears Prada’s impossible antagonist is based).

This seems to be another case of I-think-I’m-bigger-than-I-am-itis. Yes, it’s a big deal to be profiled by the NYT, but I submit that outside fashion circles of New York and LA, most of America wouldn’t be able to name the woman if shown a photo.

Hundreds of advertisers would disagree about the assertion that Vogue can’t change a designer’s business. If advertising doesn’t work, it doesn’t sell.

Let’s give this comparison five years and see who comes out on top: The top fashion magazine that was established in 1892 and currently demands over $100,000 per full-page ad, or a heavy-handed marketer who’s been accused of encouraging drug use and anorexia to skinny up her charges—who’ve included Nicole Richie, Lindsay Lohan, and Mischa Barton at their thinnest.