"What We Actually Wear To Work" AMA with Vogue Editors

0:05Welcome to The Run Through. I'm Chloe Malle. And today we have all three pod hosts in the studio together. Yay! Very rare. Very exciting. It's usually around the Mets. Chioma! So nice to be here. In person! Welcome to New York. Thanks. Welcome back. Thank you. Thank you. And we're back with another Ask Me Anything episode. We gathered questions from the Vogue app. Download it if you haven't yet. And also from students in Vogue Summer School, which is a two-week intensive summer program for high school students that you might have seen on TikTok. Just kidding. Just kidding. There are actually some really interesting and thoughtful questions.

0:50I know. I was excited when I was looking at this on the subway this morning. I was like, oh, look at the youth. I know, right? So we're really excited to get into them. Okay. So a summer school student asks, her name is Chloe, when hiring interns, what is Vogue? Is this you, Chloe? Yeah. My pseudonym is Chloe. It's a really good undercover. When hiring interns, what is Vogue looking for? How can applicants make themselves stand out? What things set them apart? Hmm. Proofread. I hate when someone sends a application letter or inquiry and don't spell things correctly. Sometimes people say vuj. I've gotten so many letters interested in vuj, V-O-U-G.

1:36No way. That is, I mean, people are moving too quickly. Yes, exactly. My advice would be always slow down, reread, have a friend read, think about it, don't cut and paste and just take a beat. Also have good grammar. Yes. Good grammar is not to be underappreciated. And AI is not going to get rid of that. Right. Writing yourself. Don't depend on AI. Exactly. There was a woman who used to assist the managing editor, Lori Jones, back in the day. Her name is Antonina Jed-Rizak. And when she would get application letters for interns or job applications, if they spelled inquiry wrong, I versus E, she would throw it away, which I love.

2:16That's tough. That's a really tough. I don't know that rule, actually. No, me neither. Sorry. I wish I did, though. I also think go deep on the content and apply for places that you want to be at. Don't apply it for Vogue if you've never engaged with it before in any shape or form. I just think we want people who are excited to be at Vogue because they know Vogue. If you don't know Vogue and you can't name two or three stories that you enjoyed or think videos or something, then just don't bother. Don't bother. Yeah, and especially have a couple of designers that you like and writers that you like, stylists that you like.

2:55Understand which aspect of the business is exciting to you. But be open to all areas. Like I don't like when someone applies for an internship or a job and says, I am interested in X and makes it very clear they are not interested in anything else. To me, the way that you become good at any job or progress any career is by trying as many things as possible. At NYU Film School, part of the curriculum is that you have to do every single position on a film set, even if you're going in for lighting or as a director. But you have to do everything to know how that job is done. And I think that that's something that's very important to keep in mind for any career path.

3:37And so I really like when people are showing a lot of enthusiasm about just generally being part of something. Yeah, and learning the difference between or understanding that busy work is there's value in busy work, too. You're going to learn if you're an intern. You shouldn't be afraid of some busy work. You shouldn't be afraid of any work. Exactly. Another related question from a summer school student. Leah E. So what skills do you think rising fashion marketers, editors, PR professionals should start developing early on? This, I think, goes to what you both were saying. You have to be familiar with the industry that you're trying to make it in.

4:27So I always tell people to read as much as you can and stay current. And also to, you know, I think a lot of young people think that sending an email means they've, you know, done the job, they've reached out. But, you know, don't be afraid of a phone. Yes. Oh, really? Phones? Phones. Phones. Ask for people's phone numbers. Yeah, I mean, I guess. Choma's like, you're not going to get it. Not for me. Don't ask for my phone number. You know what I found to be a really helpful way to connect with people, you know, and obviously this isn't going to always work, but Instagram DM. I see designers write me, photographers, and it doesn't necessarily mean something comes out of it, but it's this very egalitarian way to connect with people.

5:16I think just following up with people in as many different ways as possible, I mean, don't be too annoying, but I think follow through is important. And Nicole's right that there is sometimes a mentality that, oh, I sent one email. It's like, no, no, no, no. I need follow-up emails. I need phone calls. I need DMs. But I also think just having a voracious appetite for the thing you're interested in, that is one benefit of having so much information at our fingertips. Be reading, looking, going through the Vogue archive, reading all types of fashion journalism. Really immerse yourself in the thing you're interested in.

5:57A hundred percent. A thousand percent. Agree. Another skill for me is will over skill. I always say this when we're hiring someone for entry level positions is someone's enthusiasm and excitement about a role can be as important, if not more, than them having a specific skill. Because if someone is willing to learn well and quickly, I think that is more powerful than someone who might happen to know how to do something but is grumpy about doing it thoroughly and with passion. Yeah, and being a team player and not wanting to work as part of a team because I think that's how the best ideas come together and being collaborative.

6:39And that's really important. People also get very curious about what it's like working at Vogue. This one is from summer school student Hira. Is working for Vogue exactly how you imagined it? What parts are similar or different from how you thought it would be? We've all been at Vogue for a really long time, and I think we've watched it change a lot. I wasn't at Vogue, you know, a long time ago, 25 years ago. And I would say the thing that's most different now is people wear flats. True. I think when we both started the job, it was a heels situation. It was a real – I did not go to work not in three-inch heels, I think.

7:22I would change – because I would – off – you know, coming off the subway, I would change into usually Manolo BB pumps. And now those have been replaced across the floor with Wales Bonner by Adidas sneakers. No kidding. But it used to sound, I mean, and the clack, clack, clack was real because especially at Times Square, it was all marble flooring and you would just hear people's stilettos like rushing down to a run through. So I do feel like there is a bit more of a relaxed atmosphere, both in terms of footwear and approach. How do you think it became more relaxed? I mean, I remember when Vogue.com launched, we moved on to a different floor.

8:08We were on the seventh floor and it was kind of like a startup vibe because the room was, it was just, the office wasn't as fancy. It was a smaller team. We could get away with not wearing the same dress codes because we weren't as visible to the rest of the Vogue staff. So you saw people kind of creeping in with a different, a more relaxed attitude, a different vibe. I do think that's where it started. That it was a younger team, it was a bit more of an alternative group. And then when there was real efforts to integrate the Vogue.com teams with the Print Vogue teams, and when that became eventually one team.

8:46And one floor. And one floor. Bits of both stayed. I also feel strongly that COVID shifted that a lot as well. Oh, yeah, COVID shifted it. COVID shifted it a ton. Like, I mean, I'm also older now, but I won't think about wearing heels in the same way I would before COVID. No. Because I just wore flats for three years. I think, too, it reflects what happened in fashion. Yes. You know, if you think back to the aughts, I think maybe there was a fancier, sort of dressier, more old school, last century way of dressing. And, you know, Phoebe Philo coming in. And remember what a big deal it was when she did those sort of Birkenstock style shoes?

9:27Yeah, it was a huge deal. We did a story about Birkenstocks at Vogue.com and it went viral. And Page Six wrote about it that Vogue editors are wearing Birkenstocks. Like it was this huge surprise. And it was literally what was happening. They were kind of affordable versions of what we were seeing on the runway. And we sort of had – Phoebe gave us permission to dress that way. It's true. Nicole's right that there's been a complete shift across the industry in terms of the styles that are acceptable and the way that people dress that we accept as office appropriate. But I think it's also encouraged people to dress to their personal style more.

10:07Like I felt such an impetus to dress properly when I started at Vogue. And now I feel I can dress more as myself. And that's what you want from a work environment. A thousand percent. I don't think I could work anywhere where I couldn't dress as my express. Choma, I wouldn't want you to work anywhere you couldn't dress as yourself. I'd be really miserable. Be miserable for everyone involved. But also I feel there is this perception of working at Vogue as very much like the Devil Wears Prada and the September issue where people are quite serious all the time and rushing around and sort of frantic.

10:49And I feel that we have a lot of fun at Vogue now. I think that we have a lot more snacks than people think we have. That's true. I think that also there's a parallel perception that Vogue editors are just sort of flouncing around all the time, going on press trips, going to appointments. And we are in the office all the time at our desks just banging things out. Like the people on our team worked so hard. And that I don't like when there's a perception that Vogue editors are just sort of trotting, globe trotting. They're desk bound. Literally.

11:34The Run-Thru will be back in a moment.

11:49Hi, I'm Rebecca Ford. And I'm John Ross. And we're the hosts of Little Gold Men, Vanity Fair's podcast for film, TV, and awards lovers. And just because the Oscars are done, for now, doesn't mean we are. Join us every week for coverage of the biggest stories in Hollywood, interviews with today's brightest stars, and so much more. Listen to Little Gold Men every Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts.

12:16I'm Jazzy Sefcik. And I'm Shilpa Oskokovic. And we're senior test kitchen editors at Bon Appetit and the hosts of the Bon Appetit Bake Club podcast. Bake Club is Bon Appetit's community of confident, curious bakers. We love to bake. Some might even call the two of us obsessive. And we love to talk about all the hows and whys and what didn't work that come with it. Every month, we publish a recipe on bonappetit.com that introduces a baking concept we think you should know. Then you'll go bake, send us any questions you have. And we'll get together here on the podcast to talk about the recipe. And this month, we're making tiny tomato galettes.

12:51They are these adorable, maybe four-bite little galettes. So cute. Head to BA.com and come and bake along with us. Send us your questions, pictures, and any thoughts to BakeClub at BonAppetit.com or find us on the Substack. Join us the first Tuesday of every month as we debrief about our latest bake. Find BA Bake Club wherever you get your podcasts. Happy baking!

13:19I'm Vincent Cunningham. I'm Nomi Fry. I'm Alex Schwartz. And we host Critics at Large from The New Yorker. Each week, we pick a starting point. The new novel you can't stop thinking about, the movie everybody's seeing this weekend, and we kind of go galaxy-brand with it. Right. We take the ideas at the center of these things and trace them across history, across mediums, all to get to the bottom of why this particular text is important right now in politics and culture and also in your everyday life. We go highbrow. We go lowbrow. We go everything in between. Food culture to meme culture. Charlie XCX to Toni Morrison.

13:55K-pop to the Kennedys. From horror movies to heated rivalry. From the Oscars to the Met Gala. The Golden Bachelor to Wuthering Heights. Great expectations to Desperate Housewives. That's what we're talking about over here. We're having fun. It's Critics at Large from The New Yorker. Every Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts.

14:21Here is one from Sunny Rodriguez in the summer school program. What is the hardest part of your position? Oh, gosh. Nicole? Well, I prepared this one, and I would say it's managing five different incoming streams of communication. Yeah, it's true. I don't know why I told people to get people's phone numbers because right now we're managing email, Slack, WhatsApp, texts, phone calls. It's true. And if the powers that be have their way with that new CMS system, we'll be able to talk to each other inside a content planner. Oh, no. And I put my foot down. I'm not communicating via content planner.

15:06No, thank you. It's too many ways of communicating. I love Slack, and I find Slack really efficient and freeing in many ways. But I do feel like I go through this mental checklist where it's my first line of defense is text. Second is Slack. Third is email. Fourth is WhatsApp. Yeah, Slack is my preferred internal communication. I escalate to WhatsApp if there's a real urgency. Not Choma's WhatsApp escalation. and then text and call is like code red. Like, please, we need to talk immediately. Like, what's up? Like, what's going on? Or I'll text if it's something more kind of just for my friends or people I know.

15:51Like, you guys, I'll text and be like, hey. Or like gossip or something that I maybe, yeah, that's a bit more spicy. Where's Dario going? Yeah. I don't want that on a company email.

16:05I find I also find that challenging. I feel you have inbox zero. How do you manage that? Like, can we delete a lot? And I have a lot of starred emails, but I just don't have any unread because it makes me still. That's incredible. My inbox is remarkable. Literally. It just gives me anxiety. Yeah. Yeah. And I find it soothing to just delete and sort. Like, OK, you know, I'm just impressed. Because the incoming is, it's an influx. I find that hard. And I do feel like that is a challenge for me because I'm in meetings all day. And I find that then it's after my kids go to bed that I really have time to sort of sort through my email.

16:50And that is both not great for my colleagues, but also not great for your husband. No. I mean, he's watching Widow's Bay.

17:07Yeah, that I find hard. I find managing people in a way that is empathetic and attentive, but also providing boundaries to be a challenge that I continue to work through. And I find a consistent challenge that I'm sure is true for everyone in media today. How do you keep a brand like Vogue, Vogue, while also speaking to the moment that is 2026 and this dizzyingly fast pace that all the platforms we are operating on are changing and shifting? So how do you keep evolving and keeping Vogue as relevant as it can be while still maintaining the core values of the brand? Yeah, I would definitely agree.

17:55and to your point on managing people, I find sometimes across generations, managing people, the expectations are quite different. I think depending on the generation, I think Gen Z versus millennial, there's a different communication style and a different sense of what's expected as a manager. So actually there was another question from Sunny Rodriguez that I loved and it was, What was your I made it moment? I think for me, when my French teenage nieces were excited about my job, I was like, oh, my gosh, this goes beyond our sort of inside fashion circle. And it's like they are excited about what Vogue is and what my place in that ecosystem is.

18:43And so that I remember last summer they were like, oh, my gosh, you're applying for that job. That's so exciting. And I was like, oh, that's fun. It is true when it kind of goes beyond our own fashion world, it's always exciting. I think that when my relatives in Nigeria are excited and the news gets pings around the world or you get requests from like, I get requests from a Swiss TV station to interview me, I'm just like, what? People care? Yeah, it is. Those are those moments when you feel like, yeah. I mean, I have to say, even sooner than that, I remember I often cite this because for me having a cover story at Vogue was a really big moment for me.

19:28And I remember the first one I did that felt like I'd made it for sure. Yeah, that's true. That's a good point. Yeah. I feel like life is sort of like a series of I Made It. I always tell this story about the first time I crashed a Marc Jacobs show because I felt like, gosh, this is exactly where I want to be. But, you know, another one is probably going to the shows. And, you know, sometimes young people will come up to you and they'll say, oh, I love to read your reviews. And that always, when that first happened, I remember being, like, startled by it. And so it was so sweet. When young people talk to you, I find that to be the most redemptive.

20:07and it's so exciting. Like a FIT student stopped me on 23rd Street the other day and was like, I love what Vogue's doing. I'm so into it right now. And it was so charming. And like, that's what you want is you want a young fashion student to be excited by Vogue. Yeah, I remember recently one of our listeners stopped me in the street and was like, I love the run through. And I was like, this is awesome. Like, I love that. I do. I get a lot more of that than I was actually talking, as I always am loudly on the subway to a friend recently and someone said, oh my God, are you Chloe? I recognize your voice from the run through.

20:44That was my friend Sam talking about his therapy and he was like, can we not do this anymore?

20:51I love this one. Also from summer school student Elif. Nicole, this one is right up your alley. What is something you've learned from interviewing designers that completely changed how you think about creativity? Very interesting question. Yes, I struggled to come up with something concise about this, so I decided to offer a cautionary tale. Ooh. Which is, to be creative, I think you have to hold on to that instinct that made you want to create in the beginning. And, like, you know, basically, in the simplest terms, it's sort of like stay connected to the street. like really if you're making fashion you need to see how people are wearing clothes and you can't really do that in an ivory tower and and I think that you know fashion as designers become more and more successful it drives them into those ivory towers a lot it's just it's also very comfortable in the ivory tower and so uh you know I just I just think that it pays for people to you know go out there go for walks do some serious people watching on the subway yeah and I also feel like for me um it was a it was a conversation i had with virgil abloh about staying connected to your childlike self and i think that's something that he was always able to do and there was a innocence and a sense of levity to his work and a sense of wonder and i think similarly not being jaded and looking at things with fresh eyes and if you can as if you were looking at something for the first time and that sense of wonder is really was really something that stayed with me in my conversations with him over the years.

22:30That's a good one. I would say something similar, which is even as recently as meeting with Métis Blasé before the couture show, the way that he talks about his work and his role at Chanel, it is like a kid in a candy store. And there is such a gratitude and delight to be doing what he's doing. And I think that you feel that at the show, in the work, and I think that that was a powerful reminder of how important that sensibility is to permeate everything that you're doing. All right, here's another one. Which designer, living or no longer living, would you like to have dinner with, and what would you ask them?

23:17Ooh, I was thinking about this one, and it also is connected to my previous answer. But I love the idea of how you pass on the heritage of a fashion house. And so I would be very interested in a dinner with Coco Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, and Métis Blasé. At Rue Cambon. That would be amazing. Yes. Yeah, I'd love that. And I would ask Mrs. Coco Chanel what she thought about the recent Charvet purchase. Yes. And what she'd be doing with Charvet shirts for Chanel. I'd love to be at like a dinner party with Yves Saint-Loroy in Marrakesh. boom oh yes yes where i would love to some minty yeah some minty eve klein blue some throws yes exactly yeah something in that zone yeah and i will say uh martin margiela and helmet lang just because two massively influential designers yeah uh who walked away at such you know, at the peak.

24:20And I just find that a fascinating choice. And I wonder, you know, what they say about it now that they've both sort of been out of fashion for 20 years. And yet, they're like on the tip of everyone's tongues all the time. The Run-Thru will be back in a moment.

24:50Hi, I'm Rebecca Ford. And I'm John Ross. And we're the hosts of Little Gold Men, Vanity Fair's podcast for film, TV, and awards lovers. And just because the Oscars are done, for now, doesn't mean we are. Join us every week for coverage of the biggest stories in Hollywood, interviews with today's brightest stars, and so much more. Listen to Little Gold Men every Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts.

25:20I'm Vincent Cunningham. I'm Nomi Fry. I'm Alex Schwartz, and we host Critics at Large from The New Yorker. Each week, we pick a starting point. The new novel you can't stop thinking about, the movie everybody's seeing this weekend, and we kind of go galaxy brain with it. Right. We take the ideas at the center of these things and trace them across history, across mediums, all to get to the bottom of why this particular text is important right now in politics and culture and also in your everyday life. We go highbrow. We go lowbrow. We go everything in between. Food culture to meme culture. Charlie XCX to Toni Morrison.

25:57K-pop to the Kennedys. From horror movies to heated rivalry. From the Oscars to the Met Gala. The Golden Bachelor to Wuthering Heights. Great expectations to Desperate Housewives. That's what we're talking about over here. We're having fun. It's Critics at Large from The New Yorker. Every Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jazzy Sefciak. And I'm Shilpa Oskoukowicz. And we're senior test kitchen editors at Bon Appetit and the hosts of the Bon Appetit Bake Club podcast. Bake Club is Bon Appetit's community of confident, curious bakers. We love to bake. Some might even call the two of us obsessive.