I’m a fashion editor and Victoria Beckham’s biggest fan – but she’ll never replace Anna Wintour at Vogue

Ever since Anna Wintour stepped down as the Editor-in-Chief of Vogue last month, there has been much speculation as to who exactly will replace her.

After all, it’s the most coveted job in fashion journalism. Vogue is an iconic publication, often deemed the fashion bible of the industry.

Anna’s unexpected announcement was first shared with her staff during a meeting on June 25, 2025, and the news rapidly spread all over the world immediately after.

Although it has to be said, the journalist isn’t what you would call retiring. Far from it. The world-famous editor won’t solely represent American Vogue anymore; instead, she will be stepping into the roles of Conde Nast’s Global Chief Content Officer, and she will also serve as the Global Editorial Director at Vogue.

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When it comes to the replacement list, whoever follows in her footsteps in her former role will have a pretty big task ahead of them. One name that there has been much chatter about is a certain Victoria Beckham.

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The former Spice Girl turned fashion designer has been spoken about regarding the monumental job description, and there appear to be a lot of opinions as to whether she would be the best applicant.

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Fashion commentator Osama Chabbi’s statement that he shared on X went viral on Sunday. With over 1.2 million views, 23,00 ‘likes’ and 1.3 retweets, the French-Tunisian stylist penned: “Victoria Beckham could actually be the perfect fit to lead Vogue. She’s simultaneously popular and unattainable, and she’s also seen as an undebatable arbiter of taste. She’s a Tom Ford in her own way. Call me crazy, but I can sense it.”

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Although I can see where the fashion expert is coming from, I think the appointment of VB for the said role is highly unlikely.

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And I must stress that there is no negativity here! I love Victoria Beckham; always have, always will. I adore her modern, elegant style, and I highly respect her transition from Posh Spice to a huge power player in the fashion industry with her label.

That being said, she’s simply not qualified in the world of fashion journalism. Becoming a journalist, particularly one in fashion, takes years. Reflecting on my own career, for instance, it took quite some time for me to enter the world of fashion as a full-time job.

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 After university, I spent years working for free for various publications – ironing samples, making tea, going on snack runs all over London for various editors (yes, really), and not to mention interning for large periods before I got a role as a fashion assistant and worked my way up.

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Although fashion is at the core of Victoria’s career – she is the CEO of her eponymous, highly successful label, after all – she doesn’t write about fashion. It’s not her remit to do extensive fashion commentary, even though her knowledge and business acumen are to be admired.

Anna Wintour’s career

Someone like Anna had spent years working her way to her pioneering role. Journalism is in Anna’s family, and it’s pretty deeply set. Her father, Charles Wintour, was the editor of the Evening Standard from 1959 to 1976 and taught her everything there was to know about magazines.

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In 1970, Anna became an editorial assistant at Harper’s Bazaar UK at the age of 20, but she always made it clear to her colleagues that her dream was to edit US Vogue. 

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She went on to become the junior fashion editor of the US version of Harper’s Bazaar in 1975, before heading up British Vogue between 1985 and 1987. After editing US House and Garden shortly after, the US Vogue top gig was hers in 1988.

Anna really did shape Vogue to make it what it is today. Before her reign, the covers were shot close-in, with the faces of the models mainly on show. Anna’s covers zoomed out, showing much more of the body. She also mixed and matched outfits that featured designer labels with inexpensive items – not just exclusively high-end pieces. She also put celebrities on the cover instead of just supermodels, something many other magazines quickly re-created.

Anna is an institution. Heck, the film The Devil Wears Prada was reportedly written about her, in the fictional character of Miranda Priestly, played by Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep.

She’s become a celebrity in her own right, and I don’t think there’s anyone right now who has the same visibility and voice she has. A true fashion expert with bucketloads of experience and prestige will be the right person for the job, but who will make the cut is anyone’s guess. I just don’t think it will be Victoria.