Daily Front Row

2010 July 8

So What's New at W, Stefano Tonchi?

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Stefano Tonchi
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(PARIS) Massive staff changes, the imminent release of the September issue, and that oh-so-salacious rumor that Anna Dello Russo may be decamping stateside to take the fashion director title at the glossy…who can even keep up with all the news out of Stefano Tonchi's W? The Daily caught up with the editeur after Valentino couture to get the scoop.
VALENTINE UHOVSKI

Does it feel different to cover the shows for W?
It's so different from the days at The Times. We used to do couture, and then all of the [RTW] shows, of course. Sure, I have a new group of people around me. I’m very excited to have them with me for this.

Is it challenging to close the September issue in New York while your senior staff is in Paris?
Well, I mean, this week is a little bit of a dead week in New York anyway, with people taking time off Friday, then Monday...so it makes sense to take these one or two days and not work in New York, but here in Paris. I have plenty of appointments.

Do you have a core group of photographers in place?
Yes, September will be a new place for the magazine, and we’ll have a sort of dark group of photographers. Alex White shot many stories. We have Craig McDean, Mert and Marcus on board, and we’re using some new photographers for us, like Tim Walker, with more joining soon.

A few rumors to address: We’ve been hearing that W will be going bi-monthly as of September. Any truth to that?
Never heard that! I mean, personally, I never, never heard that. And beyond that I pretty much have the next 12 issues scheduled. There’s more than one cover in place.

Alex [White] has worked with you extensively on September. What about Anna Dello Russo?
I love Anna, but she has a great job at Japanese Vogue that she quite likes and I don’t have any idea to actually move her to New York. She’s a good friend, but I didn’t really even have a conversation with her about this seriously. She’s a fashion director, but she’s not necessarily the one that’s doing shoots and maybe that’s what I’m looking for. Alex is doing that, and that’s what we need at W.

Are you satisfied with how things are going so far?
Yes, it’s been great so far, with very strong support from the company and the industry. Especially with The Daily. You’ve always been the first to know and ones to wish me the best. And now I'll have to focus on a year's worth of great issues.