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Glamour, one of the more successful titles in the Condé Nast portfolio, just got a makeover in time for the March issue. Cindi Leive, the magazine's editor in chief, called it "sleeker" and "more detailed" with a focus on heritage and more fashion according to WWD. But she's crediting her readers and staff for the update, rather than strict orders from Anna Wintour, Condé's artistic director. Lieve said, "We will be doing more designer coverage. Our readers are interested. Women are much more knowledgeable about the fashion industry."
Traces of Wintour's influence can certainly be found in the photography with Patrick Demarchelier, a favorite photog at Vogue, shooting Taylor Swift on the cover and a spread shot at the 1 World Trade Center construction site, which will soon house Condé. The last mag to shoot there was Vogue for the August 2013 issue. Despite the current understanding that Swift is a cover pariah, March was up 8.2 percent in advertising.
Regarding Wintour's influence in general, though, she said, "In terms of Glamour, it's been like a great, really positive collaboration and, you know, obviously I avail myself of [Wintour's] counsel on things like photography and fashion because how lucky are we to have an artistic director who happens to know more about fashion than anyone in the universe? She understands the brand DNA of Glamour. She's got vast experience and incredible wisdom about fashion photography."
· Glamour Fetes 75th Anniversary With a Makeover [WWD]
· Taylor Swift: Still Not Very Good at Selling Magazines [Racked]