Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour received quite the birthday treat when she turned 60 the other day. The vocal Obama supporter was named, along with Sarah Jessica Parker, Edward Norton, architect Thom Mayne, and former New York City Ballet dancer Damian Woetzel, to President Obama’s 25-person Committee on the Arts and Humanities. The committee is tasked with bringing attention to education, cultural diplomacy, and economical development through the arts. First Lady Michelle Obama, who is the committee’s honorary chairperson, remarked that “the arts are not just a nice thing to have or to do if there is free time or if one can afford it.” What the committee plans to do in that respect was not further elucidated.
Incidentally, fashion’s most powerful figure got quite her share of flack back in July when the Council of Fashion Designers of America held a town hall meeting to discuss Fashion Week and the industry’s hardships. Wintour asked – “Could someone lead a committee that would make ground rules for retailers of when the discounting starts, and then all the retailers can agree to it?”
When it was pointed out by CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg that Wintour’s idea would violate U.S. antitrust laws, the editrix responded, “Is that something we can change? We have friends in the White House now!”
Hopefully the committee won’t be taking a cue from Bloomberg’s law-bending campaign…
