Getting fired from a job is never easy and can leave a bitter taste in anyone’s mouth. Lucinda Chambers knows this feeling all to well. Lucinda Chambers was the fashion editor for British Vogue for over 25 years. But, recently spilled the tea during an interview with Vestoj.
According to Lucinda, no one at British Vogue knew she would be fired. No one except the new editor-in-chief, Edward Enninful who took her place. She states during her interview; “No one in the building knew it was going to happen. The management and the editor I’ve worked with for twenty-five years had no idea. Nor did HR. Even the chairman told me he didn’t know it was going to happen.”
She went on to say; a close friend suggested that she should stop talking about being let go from the magazine company, but she disagreed. She says; “I asked her why — it’s nothing I’m ashamed of.” Lucinda’s friend felt that if she kept talking about it… “Then that becomes the story. The story should be that you’ve had the most incredible career for over 30 years.” Lucinda said she didn’t want to be the person who pretended she left on her own when everyone knew the truth that she had been let go.
Alexandra Shulman of British Vogue released a statement shortly after her departure saying, “Lucinda has been the most wonderful creative collaborator, as well as friend, throughout my whole editorship,” On Thursday a spokesperson for British Vogue disagreed with Chambers comments on the issue. “It’s usual for an incoming editor to make some changes to the team. Any changes made are done with the full knowledge of senior management.”
In addition to explaining the story of her firing, Lucinda went into detail on the downfalls of the fashion industry. One statement stuck out; “Fashion can chew you up and spit you out.” Due to the sensitive nature of the content Vestoj temporarily removed the interview from their website. After republishing it they said;
“In terms of the reasons why it was removed, they are directly related to the industry pressures which Lucinda discusses in her interview,” she continued. “As you know, fashion magazines are rarely independent because their existence depends on relationships with powerful institutions and individuals, whether it’s for tickets to shows, access in order to conduct interviews or advertising revenue.”
“We created Vestoj to be an antidote to these pressures, but we are not always immune,” Ms. Aronowsky Cronberg added. “We hope Lucinda’s republished interview will spark a discussion which might, in her words, lead to a more ‘empowering and useful’ fashion media.”
There’s two sides to every story so we’ll see if this will continue to play out or end here.
