Top 50 Anna Wintour Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “It’s always about timing. If it’s too soon, no one understands. If it’s too late, everyone’s forgotten.”

— Anna Wintour

2. “Some people have the Bible. I have Vogue.”

— Anna Wintour

3. “Fashion is a reflection of our times. Fashion can tell you everything that’s going on in the world with a strong fashion image.”

— Anna Wintour

4. “People respond well to those that are sure of what they want.”

— Anna Wintour

5. “If you can’t be better than your competition, just dress better.”

— Anna Wintour

6. “Fashion goes in only one direction -forward- and I am a firm believer in thinking that way too.”

— Anna Wintour

7. “One should look forward rather than backwards.”

— Anna Wintour

8. “I’m very driven by what I do. I am certainly very competitive. I like people who represent the best at what they do. If that turns you into a perfectionist then maybe I am.”

— Anna Wintour

9. “I don’t really follow market research. In the end, I respond to my own instincts.”

— Anna Wintour

10. “In today’s world you have to interact. You can’t be some difficult, shy person who is not able to look somebody in the face; you have to present yourself. You have to know how to talk about your vision, your focus and what you believe in.”

— Anna Wintour

11. “I don’t like people who are late.”

— Anna Wintour

12. “I’m an ice queen, I’m the Sun King, I’m an alien fleeing from District 9 and I’m a dominatrix. So I reckon that makes me a lukewarm royalty with a whip from outer space.”

— Anna Wintour

13. “Everyone should be sacked at least once in their career because perfection doesn’t exist. It’s important to have setbacks, because that is the reality of life.”

— Anna Wintour

14. “Even if I’m completely unsure, I’ll pretend I know exactly what I’m talking about and make a decision.”

— Anna Wintour

15. “One wants to be surprised.”

— Anna Wintour

16. “It is a family; it’s a slightly dysfunctional family, but it’s also very close and warm and loving family.”

— Anna Wintour

17. “Fashion’s not about looking back. It’s always about looking forward.”

— Anna Wintour

18. “If one comes across sometimes as being cold or brusque its simply because I’m striving for the best.”

— Anna Wintour

19. “I want ‘Vogue’ to be pacy, sharp, and sexy – I’m not interested in the super-rich or infinitely leisured. I want our readers to be energetic executive women, with money of their own and a wide range of interests. There is a new kind of woman out there. She’s interested in business and money.”

— Anna Wintour

20. “I think possibly what people working for one hate the most is indecision. Even if I’m completely unsure, I’ll pretend I know exactly what I’m talking about and make a decision. The most important thing I can do is try and make myself very clearly understood.”

— Anna Wintour

21. “In the end I do respond to my own instincts. Sometimes they’re successful, and obviously sometimes they’re not. But you have to, I think, remain true to what you believe in.”

— Anna Wintour

22. “I surround myself with a talented group of people that are opinionated and interesting. I try to remain very open to what others have to say.”

— Anna Wintour

23. “The notion that Anna would want something done “now” and not “shortly” is accurate.”

— Anna Wintour

24. “Gisele Bundchen, along w Kate Moss, is a phenomenon. I wish models knew they have to have a personality.”

— Anna Wintour

25. “You either know fashion or you don’t.”

— Anna Wintour

26. “There is something about fashion that can make people really nervous.”

— Anna Wintour

27. “Go get a job. Whether it’s working as a designer or working in a restaurant and then doing your own thing in your own time, it’s a reality of life. In the end it’s going to be helpful to you and so many others.”

— Anna Wintour

28. “To be in Vogue has to mean something.”

— Anna Wintour

29. “I’m interested in seeing just the girl on the street because she is unlike any other. I’m inspired by whatever it is she might be wearing.”

— Anna Wintour

30. “It’s not so much about powerful women. In some cases, there are stereotypes about women. I often don’t hear men talked about in the same way. It’s more a sexist stereotype than a powerful stereotype.”

— Anna Wintour

31. “The notion that a contemporary woman must look mannish in order to be taken seriously as a seeker of power is frankly dismaying. This is America, not Saudi Arabia.”

— Anna Wintour

32. “It’s the mishaps that make it fun, and brings you the surprise.”

— Anna Wintour

33. “The gossip might make better reading, but the simple fact of the matter is that it isn’t true.”

— Anna Wintour

34. “Tears? Are you going for a Barbara Walters moment?”

— Anna Wintour

35. “I look for strong people. I don’t like people who’ll say yes to everything I might bring up. I want people who can argue and disagree and have a point of view that’s reflected in the magazine. My dad believed in the cult of personality. He brought great writers and columnists to The Standard.”

— Anna Wintour

36. “Fashion is not beautiful, neither is it ugly. Why should it be either? Fashion is fashion.”

— Anna Wintour

37. “I’d just been on a trip to Minnesota, where I can only kindly describe most of the people I saw as little houses.”

— Anna Wintour

38. “When I hear a company is being run by a team, my heart sinks, because you need to have that leader with a vision and heart that can move things forward.”

— Anna Wintour

39. “Well it just looks so ugly. Is it a boy or is it a girl?”

— Anna Wintour

40. “It’s possible in today’s world to be instantly famous, whether it’s through Instagram or whatever platform it may be, but it’s a very different matter to be successful financially and in the long-term.”

— Anna Wintour

41. “People constantly make the mistake of comparing London with New York, Milan and Paris and that’s not what it’s about. London has its own fashion identity. You come here to find the next Alexander McQueen or John Galliano.”

— Anna Wintour

42. “I worked for Harper’s Bazaar. They fired me. I recommend that you all get fired; it’s a great learning experience.”

— Anna Wintour

43. “Gisele Bundchen is a bit of a jock. 1 of my fave shoots is her playing football.”

— Anna Wintour

44. “If you look at any great fashion photograph out of context, it will tell you just as much about what’s going on in the world as a headline in The New York Times.”

— Anna Wintour

45. “The Trump Card is appealing, grounded, smart, and has a sense of humor. Ivanka Trump proves that believing in yourself and working hard never go out of style.”

— Anna Wintour

46. “I’m very good at delegating – people work much better when they have a real sense of responsibility. But at the same time, I don’t like surprises. I don’t pore over every shoot, but I do like to be aware at all times of what’s going on.”

— Anna Wintour

47. “I wasn’t academically successful. And maybe I’ve spent a lot of my career trying to make up for that.”

— Anna Wintour

48. “Models today, she explained, don’t understand that to be successful you have to have a personality, intelligence, and issues that you support, and Gisele embodies these qualities.”

— Anna Wintour

49. “She had no time for anything humdrum, banal, or mundane – to the extent that the task of cleaning her desk at every night had to be done with a bottle of Perrier water and Chanel No. 5.”

— Anna Wintour

50. “Part of the pleasure of editing ‘Vogue,’ one that lies in a long tradition of this magazine, is being able to feature those who define the culture at any given moment, who stir things up, whose presence in the world shapes the way it looks and influences the way we see it.”

— Anna Wintour