NEW LEADERSHIP: As anticipated by the departure of several senior editors across the globe, Condé Nast is betting on a new generation to face the challenges of the publishing industry.
In Italy, Condé Nast has created a new role at Vogue Italia which, while it won’t feature an editor in chief any longer, will be locally guided by a head of editorial content, a position assigned to former fashion market director Francesca Ragazzi.
The Italian editor kicked off her career in Paris working as an intern for Vogue Italia and then as a European fashion associate for Vogue US. In 2014, she relocated to New York to work as a fashion market editor for the magazine, reporting to fashion director Virginia Smith and with responsibilities for the Italian and French markets. In 2018, she moved back to Italy, taking up the role of fashion market director under former editor in chief Emanuele Farneti, who left the company in July.
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“Francesca brings with her a wealth of knowledge of the Italian and global fashion worlds,” said Anna Wintour, Vogue’s global editorial director and Condé Nast chief content officer. “She has been with Condé Nast for over a decade, and has worked in Milan, Paris and New York, side-by-side with many of our most talented editors. This experience, coupled with her creative eye and passion for storytelling, make Francesca a natural fit for this new role.”
In her new role, Ragazzi will report to Wintour but also to Vogue European editorial director Edward Enninful.
“Francesca’s appointment marks a new chapter for Vogue Italia,” Enninful said. “As head of editorial content for Vogue Italia, Francesca will elevate Italian art, culture and style through a Vogue lens. Vogue Italia has always been bold in its editorial approach, and will continue to be a great source of inspiration to Vogue’s global audience.”
As she explained during an interview, Ragazzi will coordinate the editorial activities in Italy, creating content “that celebrates the Italian style and that can be amplified across Vogue’s different platforms.”
In keeping with the new editorial structure Condé Nast is implementing across its European titles — including Vanity Fair, where Simone Marchetti, editor in chief of the Italian edition, has also been promoted to the role of European editorial director with responsibility also for the French and Spanish editions — Ragazzi will develop content that can be shared across all of Vogue’s European editions. As part of cost-cutting measures, Condé Nast is increasingly sharing content across its magazines’ global editions and centralizing control of those editions in the hands of a few top editors, like Enninful, rather than having individual editors in chief at each national title.
Ragazzi added that among her goals she would like to amp up the range of Vogue Italia readers, making the magazine look appealing to younger generations. After Farneti, who interpreted fashion through an intellectual filter, Vogue Italia is now expected to become more product-focused. “My ambition is to always embrace a point of view that places fashion at the center,” Ragazzi said.
Condé Nast is expected to make similar appointments at the other editions of Vogue in Europe, according to market sources, with French fashion editor Eugénie Trochu becoming head of editorial content for Vogue Paris.
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