New Vogue Editor Chloe Malle Is a ‘Proud Nepo Baby’

Chloe Malle, the new U.S. editorial director of Vogue, is acknowledging her ties to nepotism. 

On Tuesday, it was announced that Anna Wintour tapped Malle as head of editorial content for the American Vogue edition after Wintour herself stepped down from her longstanding role as editor in chief in June. Malle joined Vogue in 2011 as a social editor and was named the editor of Vogue.com in 2023.

Malle spoke with The New York Times tied to the announcement of her new role on Tuesday, where she noted that she is a “proud ‘nepo baby,’” recognizing her parent’s Oscar-nominated careers in the entertainment industry. 

“There is no question that I have 100 percent benefited from the privilege I grew up in,” she admitted. “It’s delusional to say otherwise. I will say, though, that it has always made me work much harder. It has been a goal for a lot of my life to prove that I’m more than Candice Bergen’s daughter, or someone who grew up in Beverly Hills.”

Her mother, Candice Bergen, is an Oscar-nominated actress, known for starring in projects including Murphy Brown, Miss Congeniality, Bride Wars and Boston Legal. She earned her Oscar nom in 1980 in the best supporting actress category for her work in Starting Over. 

Malle’s father, Louis Malle, is a director and screenwriter whose work has also been recognized by the Academy. He’s received three nods, including a 1982 nomination for best director for Atlantic City. 

Later in the profile, Malle said as the new head of editorial content for Vogue U.S., she intends to foster “a more direct, smaller, healthier audience” via “giving original, witty, irreverent, joyful points of view on things.” 

Wintour is not entirely exiting the publication and will prevail as global editorial director for Vogue, continuing to serve as chief content officer for Condé Nast. 

Of the pressure of stepping into her predecessor’s shoes, Malle said, “The truth is that no one’s going to replace Anna.” She added that she’s “happy she’s down the hall” as she continues to remain with Vogue and the wider Condé Nast. 

“I know that some people who were interested in this job were sort of daunted by the idea of Anna being down the hall,” she said. “I’m very happy she’s down the hall with her Clarice Cliff pottery.”

In a statement about Malle’s appointment, Wintour said, “At a moment of change both within fashion and outside it, Vogue must continue to be both the standard-bearer and the boundary-pushing leader. Chloe has proven often that she can find the balance between American Vogue’s long, singular history and its future on the front lines of the new. I am so excited to continue working with her, as her mentor but also as her student, while she leads us and our audiences where we’ve never been before.”