Anna Wintour: The Cool Life and Hot Times of Vogue's Editor in Chief
by Jerry Oppenheimer C 2005
St Martin's Press
pages 268-269: On what Anna (Nuclear Wintour) did at House and Garden circa 1987 upon becoming editor...
..."Other editors ran out to get new, hipper looking wardrobes in the hopes of placating Anna and making her think they had a youthful image and attitude - and save their jobs, even if their hair was turning a bit gray. "Everyone had to shorten their skirts," recalls one editor.
A few who didn't pass muster, but whom Conde Nast wanted to keep around because (Alex) Liberman liked them, were sent to the fourteenth floor, known in the parlance of Conde Nast as "the elephants graveyard," where they would serve out their time and retire, some with full pay and medical benefits.
Veteran staffers who weren't fired were kept around because Anna didn't know the shelter business like she knew the fashion business, and she needed experienced editors and writers who had covered that scene for years for House and Garden to take her to the showrooms and introduce her to the industry. They were treated shabbily before finally getting the boot..."
