Condé Nast

When Condé Montrose Nast bought a publication called Vogue in 1909, he was a man with a vision. He recognized that creating publications that served a niche audience—a rich, class-conscious one—could be a successful business model. As a business colleague recalled, “He didn’t want a big circulation. He wanted a good one.”

More than a century later, Condé Nast publishes some of the most influential, trend-making magazines in the world, even as it struggles to adapt its historically slick print publications for the world of digital publishing.

Spending to build a brand

Under Condé Montrose Nast, the self-named publishing empire grew, adding Vanity Fair and House & Garden to the fold. Nast set the standard, which would be continued for decades, of throwing lavish parties that brought together an elite collection of the rich and famous from society and the arts. Appropriately, he added Glamour magazine to the stable in 1939 (after ceasing publication of Vanity Fair in 1936). He died in 1942, and the business continued under family control until 1959.

Discover how ordinary objects work, and expand your understanding of the familiar.

SIGN UP

" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">

Thank you for signing up!"

Back to homepage

By clicking "Sign Up", you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

That was when publishing powerhouse Samuel I. Newhouse decided to surprise his wife, who loved Vogue, with a special anniversary present: buying the magazine and the rest of the Condé Nast portfolio for $5 million. The Newhouse family was not new to the world of media; the family owned a large chain of newspapers. Newhouse’s older son, also Samuel I. but known as Si, expressed interest in running Condé Nast, ushering in another half century of opulence and excellence in magazine publishing.

During Si Newhouse’s tenure, Condé Nast acquired some of its landmark publications, including GQ, Condé Nast Traveler, The New Yorker, and Architectural Digest. They were magazines that Nast himself would have endorsed: They were not necessarily about a big audience but a good one. And in 1983 Newhouse made a statement by resurrecting Vanity Fair. One of its first editors was Tina Brown, who during her eight and a half year tenure would make the magazine thought-provoking and buzzworthy—perhaps never more so than with the 1991 cover featuring a naked and very pregnant Demi Moore, photographed by Annie Leibovitz.

None of this came cheap, and Newhouse did not mind spending lavishly to create remarkable magazines. In 2001 Leibovitz spent almost half a million dollars on a cover shoot of famous actresses including Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Sophia Loren, and Gwyneth Paltrow. The short-lived business magazine Portfolio spent $30,000 in 2008 to rent an elephant for a photo shoot.

Creating more than magazines

Newhouse’s vision for Condé Nast went beyond creating iconic magazines. He wanted his publications to be not just at the center of the conversation but also to help set the conversation. In the 1990s he wound up achieving that by having Condé Nast editors closely associated with two of the most glamorous, coveted parties in the world. The first Vanity Fair Oscar party, in 1994, was the brainchild of editor Graydon Carter. In the decades since the party has become the place to be seen after the Academy Awards are handed out.

Explore Britannica Premium!

The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.

SUBSCRIBE

At roughly the same time (1995), Vogue editor Anna Wintour began chairing the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute fundraiser—more commonly known as the Met Gala. It was already a top-tier New York party, but Wintour expanded its scope to appeal beyond the world of fashion to politicians, actors, athletes, and beyond. Widely considered the East Coast version of the Oscars, the Met Gala has become one of the most sought-after tickets in the world.

A host of iconic editors

Over the years some of the most celebrated names in magazine journalism have led Condé Nast publications. Among them are:

• Diana Vreeland, editor of Vogue from 1963 to 1971. A tastemaker in her own right, she played a key role in the Met Gala before Wintour.
• Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue from 1988 to 2025. Wintour, along with her counterpart at Vanity Fair, Graydon Carter (see below), was seen as an editor to be revered and feared.
• Tina Brown, editor of Vanity Fair from 1984 to 1992. She went on to edit The New Yorker until 1998.
• Graydon Carter, who succeeded Brown and edited Vanity Fair for 25 years until 2017. In addition to creating the Oscar party, Carter oversaw the publication of many scoops, including the identity of Watergate source Deep Throat.
• David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker from 1998 to the present. In 2016 The New Yorker became the first magazine to win a Pulitzer Prize and has since won nine more. Remnick is considered one of America’s preeminent editors.

Condé Nast in the 21st century

The changing media landscape of the late 20th and 21st centuries, coupled with the 2007–08 Great Recession, forced Condé Nast leadership to do what had been unthinkable: Pay attention to budgets. By the 1990s many of Condé Nast’s magazines were not profitable, and some of them, including Mademoiselle and Gourmet, were shut down. But in 2007 Newhouse poured $100 million into the creation of Portfolio (the aforementioned business magazine that rented the elephant). The timing of the launch, just before the Great Recession, helped seal its fate, and it ceased publication after two years. For some time before his death in 2017, Newhouse had not been involved in the day-to-day running of the magazines.

Throughout the 2010s Condé Nast cut staff, restructured, and seemed to be prepared to be profitable before the COVID-19 pandemic cratered advertising revenue. That, coupled with questions about leadership diversity in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, sparked discussions about the relevance of magazines more than a century after their beginnings in the Gilded Age. The Internet, social media, and influencers led many to wonder what role Vogue and Vanity Fair still had in setting trends for the 2020s.

In 2025 the upheaval continued with Wintour’s announcement that she would step down as editor in chief at Vogue. The exact meaning of her departure remained unclear, however, as she remained as global editorial director. Her successor, Chloe Malle, notably took the title of head of editorial content; the editor in chief title was retired. In November Teen Vogue was brought under Vogue.com, resulting in layoffs and the additional firing of four employees after they protested the layoffs to human resources.

Also in 2025 Vanity Fair found itself in the middle of controversy when details of a romantic relationship between West Coast editor Olivia Nuzzi and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., became known. Nuzzi’s contract was not renewed.