Anna Wintour Shades First Lady Melania Trump in New Interview

When asked about First Lady Melania Trump's style, Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour instead [...]

By Libby Birk

When asked about First Lady Melania Trump's style, Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour instead turned the conversation to former FLOTUS Michelle Obama — but not without throwing some subtle shade Trump's way.

In Friday's episode of The Economist asks podcast, host Anne McElvoy asked the famous fashion editor if she "valued" the fact that Trump, 49, wore several British-inspired outfits during her and President Donald Trump's state visit to the United Kingdom last month.

"[I]n looking, there is something so visual about the Trumps," McElvoy said. "His sort of ill-fitting suits and the strange trousers and red baseball cap...almost deliberately off-trend...in a way that might echo with the base."

"Melania, put together in a much more put-together way," McElvoy continued, "I think [she] very consciously wanted to see herself as an ambassador...of transatlantic fashion. I mean, do you value that? Or would you rather just stay away from the Trumps?" she pointedly asked Wintour.

Instead of answering the question, Wintour, 69, sidestepped it completely, focusing instead on Obama.

"I think First Lady Michelle Obama really was so incredible in every decision she made about fashion. She supported young American designers. She supported designers, indeed, from all over the world," Wintour said. "She was the best ambassador that this country could possibly have in many ways, obviously, way beyond fashion."

"But she's not the first lady now," McElvoy pushed back. "So what about the one that you've got now?"

"To me, she [Obama] is the example that I admire," Wintour replied.

McElvoy then asked Wintour if she would give fashion advice to President Trump if he were to call, to which she responded, "I think he's unlikely to call."

Earlier in the podcast, Wintour asked if it was "a conscious decision" not to give much coverage to the first lady, who hasn't been featured on a Vogue cover since 2005. In contrast, obama has thus far scored three Vogue covers, all during her eight-year tenure as first lady (2009, 2013 and 2016).

"There are so many women in politics that deserve celebration," Wintour responded, citing its recent photo shoot featuring five of the six female 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. "I think it's important for Vogue to support women who are leading change in this country."

Earlier this year, Wintour suggested she wasn't interested in featuring Trump in the magazine. "To be on the cover of Vogue doesn't define Mrs. Trump, she's been there, done that long before she was first lady," then-Trump spokesperson Stephanie Grisham replied. Grisham has since replaced Sarah Huckabee Sanders as White House press secretary.

"Her role as first lady of the United States and all that she does is much more important than some superficial photo shoot and cover," Grisham added. "This just further demonstrates how biased the fashion magazine industry is, and shows how insecure and small-minded Anna Wintour really is."

"Unfortunately, Mrs. Trump is used to this kind of divisive behavior."

"You have to stand up for what you believe in and you have to take a point of view," Wintour told CNN earlier this year when asked about why Vogue features first ladies on its covers. "We profile women in the magazine that we believe in the stand that they're taking on issues we support them, we feel that they are leaders."

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