Vogue Arabia's Editor-in-Chief Has Been Fired After Two Issues

By Clover Hope  |  April 13, 2017 | 4:30pm
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Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz, who had big plans as the first editor-in-chief of Vogue Arabia, has been fired from the publication.

Well-known among fashion circles both in the U.S. and Middle East—The Cut called her “the Anna Wintour of the Middle East”—Abdulaziz was hired to run Vogue Arabia in July 2016. The first print edition launched in March of this year with Gigi Hadid, a notably controversial subject, on the cover.

Abdulaziz says she was fired, after working on two print issues, because of conflicting values with publisher Condé Nast International.

Business of Fashion reports:

In an exclusive statement shared with BoF, the Saudi princess said: “I refused to compromise when I felt the publisher’s approach conflicted with the values which underpin our readers and the role of the editor-in-chief in meeting those values in a truly authentic way.”
It continued: “I am proud of what I have been able to accomplish in such a short space of time… It had initially been my intention to build this important and groundbreaking edition of Vogue from inception to a mature magazine in line with others in the Vogue stable.”

Abdulaziz didn’t specify the source of the conflict. The difficulty of running an international fashion magazine in a region with conservative values was evident from the beginning. Abdulaziz’s replacement has been hired but is yet to be announced.

The news follows another regime change earlier this week at British Vogue, where Edward Enninful (formerly at W) was appointed editor-in-chief.

 
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