Grace Coddington Steps Down As American ‘Vogue’s Creative Director

Grace Coddington will no longer serve as the creative director of American Vogue.

Grace Coddington Steps Down

Coddington, who was hired on as Vogue‘s fashion director in 1988 by none other than editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, has decided to scale back her role at the magazine. She will take up the post of creative director at-large while she pursues other projects of interest to her.

Coddington’s decision was confirmed by a Vogue spokesperson to Business of Fashion.

“She had been saying for years she’d step down as creative director at Vogue. Now, it’s come to pass,” according to NPR’s Jacki Lyden. “Coddington was as familiar in the front rows of fashion shows as the woman she usually sat beside: editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.”

Lyden added, “Coddington was the approachable funky grandmother to Wintour’s steely uber-editrix.”

Though Coddington will have a lesser role at Vogue, she plans to stay very much involved in the world of fashion.

“I’m not running away from Vogue, because it has opened so many doors. But it will be nice to collaborate, and nice to go out [and] give talks to people. It’s just another approach,” she told Business of Fashion. “I’m certainly not going into retirement. I don’t want to sit around.”