Edward Enninful steps down as British Vogue editor-in-chief

British Vogue's editor-in-chief Edward Enninful has announced he is leaving his role, amid rumours of a rift with Vogue's overall editor-in-chief Dame Anna. 

The 51-year-old, who is the first male and first black editor of British Vogue, informed the magazine staff yesterday that he will be taking on a new global role at publisher Conde Nast.

It comes amid rumours that there has been a power struggle between Mr Enninful and Vogue's overall editor-in-chief Dame Anna ever since he took up his post in 2017 – which Vogue has denied.

In an internal email sent yesterday, he said: “I am excited to share that from next year I will be stepping into the newly appointed position of editorial advisor of British Vogue and global creative and cultural advisor of Vogue, where I will continue to contribute to the creative and cultural success of the Vogue brand globally while having the freedom to take on broader creative projects.” 

"For now everything remains the same, and I’m so excited about what the future holds for us. I would like to thank Roger [Lynch] and Anna [Wintour] for their continued support,” he said.

Mr Enninful made radical changes to British Vogue and under his control the magazine featured its first transgender cover model. He also oversaw the magazine's first male cover star – Oscar-nominated actor Timothee Chalamet, while disability activist Sinead Burke became the first visibly disabled person on the cover.

Born in Ghana and raised as a teenager in London, Mr Enninful became the youngest-ever fashion director of an international publication when he was hired by i-D magazine aged just 18. He became a contributing fashion editor for American Vogue in 2006 before moving on to Conde Nast's W magazine in 2011 and finally British Vogue in 2017. 

A Conde Nast source said Mr Enninful's new role 'increased' his responsibilities and is a 'continuation of his long-standing relationship with Conde Nast, which stems over 25 years'.

'To optimise my increased global responsibilities, and to give British Vogue the new focus it will deserve, we saw the opportunity to hire, in concert with our global editorial structure, a head of editorial content for British Vogue.'