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Last Thursday, shortly after the news broke that Radhika Jones was stepping down as editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair, I reported that she had been contemplating her departure for at least a year, and had also been put in a position that made remaining on the masthead untenable—after all, how much more can you do with so much less? Anyway, it seemed like time for everyone to move on from what had never been a great fit. Early whispers in the fashion world, which often has its own preferences about who should inherit these thrones, favored Mark Guiducci, one of Anna Wintour’s next-gen deputies, who manages various projects across the Vogue business. For what it’s worth, I still believe he’s a contender. Another chewed-over Vanity Fair scenario coalesced around the appointment of Sara Moonves, the editor of W magazine. This poses a slightly more complex dynamic. Moonves and a consortium of investors own W, which they purchased from Condé Nast in 2019. Moonves’s father, of course, is former CBS chairman Les Moonves. While Les has denied any involvement with the acquisition of W, Sara would likely come to any negotiation with a high level of legal and financial sophistication. Surely both sides could agree to a structure, but it would take a fair amount of time, and would presumably decrease her autonomy and financial upside. I think she would make those concessions only for Vogue, which could be hers one day if the Condé Nast board has any sense.

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Initially, I had dismissed queries about GQ editor-in-chief Will Welch, the only editor who has succeeded near the level of his or her predecessor under Wintour’s corporate management. Welch, after all, has his hands full. GQ needs a steward to manage its challenges in China. As you may remember from my reporting in July, November, and February, GQ China’s formerly $100 million-a-year business is under incredible duress due to a licensing challenge. I had also assumed that, much like Moonves, Welch was eyeing bigger things. He seemed like a legit contender to fill in for Anna in her corporate role, as chief content officer, whenever she decides to step aside. By the end of the weekend, however, I had plenty of Will is going for it whispers in my ear. Some even suggested a situation in which he runs Vanity Fair while continuing to oversee GQ and Pitchfork, which is also under his purview. In this scenario, a less experienced editor like Sam Hine—young, sure, but beloved by advertisers—or WSJ.’s Sarah Ball would take over American GQ and manage the day-to-day. This structure would effectively help solve the VF challenge while simultaneously setting up succession. And Welch has the sort of Hollywood relationships that would preserve the remaining integrity of the Oscar party, which is a not-insignificant part of the mandate—even if running VF could descend from a larger-than-life job to a fractional position in seven years.

What would Welch do at VF? Would this mean the end of journalism-journalism at Vanity Fair? When Welch took over GQ in 2018, he unemotionally narrowed its focus, catering to a new generation of fashion enthusiasts—the kind that obsessed over Virgil Abloh designs at Louis Vuitton—and the advertisers desperate to reach them. The investigations and intrepid reporting that defined the Jim Nelson era all but disappeared. Welch’s biggest snafu during his tenure derived from the retraction of a critical opinion piece dunking on Warner Bros. Discovery C.E.O. David Zaslav, which was exacerbated by the fact that Welch was attached to a (long dead) movie project at Warner Bros. His GQ isn’t interrogating anyone, okay? If he took over VF, I imagine you’d see a similar playbook. But his commercialism may be necessary for magazine brands at this stage of their life cycle. In the old days, top editors could publish whatever features they wanted, so long as they placated the advertisers with glamorous credit-heavy photoshoots and glossy front-of-book eye candy. Now, the brands need to be singularly focused. Financially, Vanity Fair can’t be an accountability force any longer, but it can still be a Hollywood and culture brand for the high-minded set. I also think Welch’s ability to identify GQ’s repositioning, and execute on that vision, indicates that he could also give Vanity Fair a fresh, likable point of view. Given the odd timing of Jones’s exit announcement—she’s staying through June—my guess is that Wintour is going to take a beat on this one. (A rep for Condé Nast had no comment on the matter, but let me just remind you that the job hasn’t even been posted yet.) When Wintour hired Jones—with the validation of David Remnick, whether or not he wants the credit—she didn’t cast a wide net. And while this search is probably not much bigger—there’s no scenario in which she hires a newsroom person; she needs a schmoozer—I do know it’s going to be relatively comprehensive and probably pretty long. I reckon Wintour is going to rely more heavily on her own instincts, and the direction of the Condé Nast board. She’s made plenty of unwise hiring decisions during the past decade, and this one needs to help the greater business.

Under Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair’s defining characteristic was its ability to shape-shift between politics, business, the arts, the entertainment industry, and the fashion business. Its articles were often as literary as The New Yorker’s, its photo shoots were as glamorous as those that appeared in Vogue, and its cover stars were as populist as the ones that adorned Glamour. Now, that differentiated mix appears to have transcended from being an asset to a complexifier. Investing in its various silos prevented Vanity Fair from differentiating in any of them. The brand can’t quite defend a paywall strategy (like The New Yorker), or declare a pure play fashion offering for advertisers (such as Vogue), or offer a mass consumer experience (like Glamour, at least kinda). One thing going for Will is that he has solved this kind of riddle before. Recall that his audition for the GQ job came in the form of his editorship of GQ Style, a quarterly magazine filled with glossy images of fashion credits and devoid of edgy content. GQ Style, of course, eventually raptured into GQ.

Matt DiGiacomo, of Chrome Hearts fame and now repped by Honor Fraser, launched a big solo exhibition of his artwork last week at the Ross + Kramer gallery. [Wall Power] Everyone with a contact list is at Salone del Mobile this week. Highlights include Prada talks, an Apartmento party to celebrate its latest cookbook, and Saint Laurent’s launch of a collection of Charlotte Perriand furniture that previously existed only as sketches or prototypes. Hermès, Highsnobiety, and Loro Piana are all around. Even The Row is doing something… could it mean…?! [Style Not Com] Hermès menswear designer Véronique Nichanian staged a repeat of last season’s show in Seoul on April 3. [WWD] An interview with Fantastic Man editor Gert Jonkers: “My favorite place to look at clothes is in a museum.” [GQ] Ralph Lauren and LVMH are in a bidding war for 109 Prince Street. [Commercial Observer] Sarah Miller, a great and also very funny writer, on Botox. [The New Yorker] Rachel Strugatz will have more on this later in the week, but Hailey Bieber’s Rhode apparently just hired a banker to explore a possible sale. [Reuters] The Styles team debates the merits of The Row’s $690 flip-flop. [The New York Times]

And finally… The real winner of The White Lotus Season 3 was… Jacquemus! Until tomorrow, Lauren P.S.: We are using affiliate links because we are a business. We may make a couple bucks off them.

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