For decades it has been synonymous with glamour, elegance and style.
In addition, it was one of the few places where Princess Diana could truly relax and be herself. If walls could speak, what story could those inside Vogue House, the seven-story Mayfair headquarters of publishing giant Conde Nast, tell?
Slipping through the merchant’s entrance, Diana took the elevator up to Vogue’s office to rummage through the fabled “fashion closet.” There, among the clothes racks that she was called to look through, she lingered and took off her favorite things from the hangers.
Before the princess, the offices were visited by all the big names in the British fashion world – Jean Shrimpton, Lord Snowdon, Twiggy, David Bailey and many others. However, Conde Nast, which publishes a number of prestigious magazines including GQ, Tatler and Vanity Fair, is moving much of its workforce away from Vogue House and is reportedly trying to sell the building’s remaining 75-year lease.
Model Jean Shrimpton stands in front of bamboo plants for Vogue in January 1970.
If the sale goes through, it will mark the end of a remarkable era for one of the most famous business addresses in the world. As Nicholas Coleridge, editorial director of Conde Nast from 1989 to 2019, wrote in his memoir: “When the elevator doors opened, anyone could be inside. The Princess of Wales, Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, processions of male models heading to auditions, trainees collecting coffee, chic dog walkers, interior designers delivering lampshades to House & Garden Magazine…such was the daily traffic of Vogue House.”
British Vogue was launched in 1916, and its “hats and dresses” articles were soon joined by famous writers such as Virginia Woolf, Bertrand Russell and Vita Sackville-West. And he moved to Vogue House, just off Regent Street, in 1958, when the building had just been built.
It was here that sixties swing photographer David Bailey met his muse and later love, Jean Shrimpton, and here was the young Anna Wintour, legendary editor-in-chief of Vogue and model for the magazine’s ruthless boss in The Devil Wears Prada. involved in the modernization of British Vogue.
On the first day, she was shown photos of models with headbands, and she objected: “They look like they came from Mars.”
And notoriously, the building became associated with the so-called Conde Nasties, a breed of skinny fashionistas whose love of sizzling humiliation was matched only by the sharpness of their Manolo Blahnik high heels.
Vogue House was also one of the very few places where Princess Diana could truly relax and be herself.
In one tragic vignette epitomizing life at the Vogue House, Tatler magazine’s “pet dog”, a dachshund named Alan Plumptre, who had his own Instagram account, was horribly crushed by the building’s revolving front door.
The potential exit from Vogue House, reported by the real estate magazine Estates Gazette, comes as Conde Nast completes a complex global restructuring that has seen its editorial staff shrunk and focus shifted from print to online.
A source told The Mail on Sunday that many see the move as inevitable, saying: “We’re moving from the old to the new.”
Last Wednesday, 120 employees attended a meeting and champagne reception at Conde Naste’s other London base in the art deco Adelphi building on the Strand, already home to executives and digital teams. The atmosphere is described as “2020s chic” with free food and a Google-style game room.
The future of two Vogue House establishments — veteran administrator John, an avid Arsenal fan who sat for decades at the semi-circular check-in counter in the wood-paneled lobby, and Tony, long-time manager of the third-floor café — remains to be seen.
For thousands of Britons who consider themselves “beautiful people”, Vogue House represents a lifetime of memories: a place where brilliant careers were built and lifelong friendships were formed. Traditionally, staff salaries were so low that only girls from wealthy families were said to be able to afford to work there. Coleridge says he was once sent a job application by a young woman who attached a topless photo of herself.
Mail on Sunday columnist Alexandra Shulman, who has been Vogue’s editor for 25 years, says: “I have very sentimental and nostalgic feelings about Vogue House. He rose to prominence as magazines became more important in the 1980s and 1990s and the number of magazines grew.”
Before the princess, the offices were visited by all the big names in the British fashion world – Jean Shrimpton, Lord Snowdon, Twiggy (pictured), David Bailey and many others.
She recalls how, as a young secretary, she and others went out on the roof at lunchtime to sunbathe, “dressed in olive oil and lemon juice.”
The location of the building has always been a huge part of its aura.
Shulman explains: “It’s close to Soho, Carnaby Street, Mayfair and Covent Garden. It was always nice to see what this building means to so many people. On the street, you could see young Japanese girls taking selfies and it was cute.”
Inside, the ghosts of the past continue to roam the corridors. In his memoir The Glossy Years, Coleridge recounted how Princess Diana “was very embarrassed to go shopping in Sloan Street or Bond Street and try on designer clothes and then not buy anything,” so she made an agreement with Vogue.
He added: “If she wanted to try a new designer, the magazine would ask her for quite a few clothes from that designer to try on.
“And then the fashion editors looked at them with her and said, ‘You know, we think you look great in this, I don’t think this one works that well, this one is amazing.’ ‘
Only after Diana had made her choice — one of them caustically described Conde Nasty as making her look like an “Aeroflot stewardess” — did her staff contact the designers.
The princess even attended dinners in the boardroom. One of them was held the day after a photograph of her sunbathing topless appeared on the front page of a yellow tabloid.
Coleridge recalled: “The princess looked amazing. She was very tactile. It was unexpected. Diana touched your elbow, your arm, covered your arm with hers. It was tempting. And she is disarmingly trusting, speaking without a filter.
She told me, “Can I ask you something? Please be truthful. Have you seen my photo in the Daily Mirror? Topless?
“William called me from Eton. Poor boy. He was upset. He said that some of the other boys teased him that my boobs were too small.” She took my elbow and added, “Please be frank, I want to know your true opinion. Don’t you think my breasts are too small?” ‘
Coleridge said he was “blushed like a Guardsman’s uniform” and stammered, “Uh, Your Royal Highness, as far as I can see under your suit, they seem to me, um, perfect. I wouldn’t worry.
Diana replied, “Thank you Nicholas. I knew you would tell me the truth. Thanks, I’m better now.
When Diana left the Vogue House, four photographers were waiting for her outside. Coleridge called a friend to try and find out who tipped off the paparazzi. He learned that the princess herself told them, calling them from the car on the way to lunch.
A less likeable royal guest was Prince Andrew, who bored the other guests at one dinner with a 30-minute description of a ship backing into port.
Photographer David Bailey recalls the sixth-floor photography studio where he first met model Jean Shrimpton. His charming photographs launched their careers.
He said, “I fell in love with Jean from the moment I met her. The attraction was mutual, although I was an odd choice for her. She was chic and hung out with public school kids everyone knew by their last names. I was a working class boy from the East End.
“The first thing I noticed was her eyes. She also had great legs.
Conde Nast chief executive Roger Lynch said: “My hope is that we will start using both spaces interchangeably and our teams will work more closely together.”
If the days of Vogue House are numbered, it proves the wisdom of one of Anna Wintour’s memorable sayings: “Fashion is not about looking back. You always have to look ahead.”