New role gives Vogue editor Anna Wintour even more influence

American Vogue editor Anna Wintour was today made artistic director of parent company Condé Nast, making her arguably the most powerful woman in magazine publishing

Ms Wintour, a Briton, is the world’s most celebrated fashion magazine editor and has been at the helm of American Vogue for almost 25 years.

Her new role will mean she provides creative advice to editors across the Condé Nast stable, which includes glossies such as Vanity Fair, GQ and The New Yorker, and ends speculation that she was set to become the US Ambassador to London.

Ms Wintour, 63, described the position as “almost like being a one-person consulting firm” within the privately owned company, which is headed by veteran media mogul Si Newhouse.

“It is something I do a lot anyway in my role at Vogue,” she said. “I advise all sorts of people in the outside world, and really, I see this as an extension of what I am doing, but on a broader scale.”

Condé Nast said the “role expands Ms Wintour’s influence and vision”. However, she will only oversee the American titles and will not have a say over Condé Nast’s London-based international operation.

The daughter of former Evening Standard editor Charles Wintour is famed for her perfectly groomed bob and sunglasses and is regarded with a mixture of awe and fear across the industry.

She inspired the book and film The Devil Wears Prada, with Meryl Streep playing a character modelled on her. Critics have dubbed her “Nuclear Wintour” because they claim she is unapproachable.

But Ms Wintour has won a string of industry awards and cemented American Vogue’s position as the most prestigious fashion magazine, despite the rise of the internet.

The move ends rumours that she could leave the publishing house.