The Ice Queen of Vogue
Anna Wintour, the formidable editor-in-chief of Vogue, has long been known for her sharp demeanor and unyielding presence. A former fashion assistant at the magazine, Jenny Syquia, shared a story that highlights just how intimidating Wintour could be during an interview.
“I remember walking into her office and she spun around in her swivel chair wearing sunglasses,” Syquia recalled ahead of the May 1 premiere of “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” “Nobody had warned me she would be wearing sunglasses, so it really threw me off. It’s very disconcerting to talk to someone when you can’t see their eyes, because eye contact is such an important part of communication.”
Syquia, now 58, started her career at Vogue in 1990 at its Midtown offices at 350 Madison Ave. — and quickly learned the do’s and don’ts when it came to elevator etiquette. “There being a rule in the building that if Anna Wintour was in the elevator, nobody else got in. Everyone just knew that,” she said.
A Ruthless Leader with a Playful Side
Despite her icy reputation, Wintour wasn’t entirely unapproachable. Syquia remembered a Valentine’s Day moment when her boyfriend sent 1,000 roses to her office. “Anna showed her playful side by popping her head in and asking, ‘What’s going on in here?’” she said. “My direct boss explained … and Anna reacted with a very amused, ‘Wow!’ It was a very funny moment and I have to say she honestly looked pretty impressed.”
Syquia described Wintour as “very quiet, very direct, and extremely sharp. She wasn’t warm and fuzzy — but she wasn’t mean either. She was simply very clear, very focused, and very much the boss.”
From Writer to Fashion Assistant
Syquia never wanted to work at Vogue. Upon graduation from Boston University, where she double majored in English and international relations, she moved to Manhattan with hopes of becoming a writer at Vanity Fair. However, a human resources rep at Condé Nast, which owns both glossies, decided she was better suited for their fashion magazine.
“When you walk in there, they typecast you. And I went into HR and she just said, ‘You belong at Vogue.’ I had zero interest in fashion,” she recalled. Syquia, a former model, now runs a jewelry brand, TRIT.
The Logistics of Fashion
Her role at Vogue, which paid a starting salary of $3.85 an hour, entailed coordinating all the fashion that appeared in the magazine, and its photoshoots. “You were also responsible for waking the models up in the morning, coordinating transportation, arranging permits for shooting locations, organizing catering — essentially managing the entire logistics operation,” she said. “If anything went wrong on a shoot, everyone looked at the fashion assistant.”
A Close Encounter with Madonna
When Madonna graced the magazine’s October 1992 cover, Syquia stood in as her fit model. “Instead of wasting Madonna’s time, when all the clothes would come in, before they would bring the racks in for Anna Wintour to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to, they would have me try them on, because I’m 5′ 3” and was 34-24-34, the exact same as Madonna,” she said. “I remember specifically trying on the pants she wore in that cover image. They were actually a little long. You can see it in the photograph, and I remember noticing it during the fitting.”
A Chance Meeting with a Future Star
Syquia, who was a college classmate of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, would run into her at Calvin Klein parties, like the brand’s store opening in 1992, where the brunette beauty was hit on by a then-unknown actor. “He came up and started talking to me. And he was so — it’s a weird word for a man — but so pretty. Beautiful blue eyes, gorgeous face. But almost like, too much,” she said. “And then he asked me for my number, and I said, ‘Oh, I don’t give out my number.’ And then he just looked at me funny, but kind of smiled a little coyly … He walked away and came back and gave me a little piece of paper with a phone number, and it said ‘Jared Leto.’”
