At 83 years old, Grace Coddington remains one of the most influential figures in the fashion world—someone who cannot be overlooked. When she stepped down from her role as creative director of American Vogue in 2016, she was, for the first time since joining the publication in 1988, allowed to work on external projects. “I’m not running away from Vogue because it has opened so many doors. But it will be nice to collaborate and to go out [and] give talks to people,” she remarked. We couldn’t agree more.
Like many in the fashion world, Coddington began her career as a model. After winning British Vogue’s model competition in the 1960s, Coddington—nicknamed “The Cod”—quickly rose to prominence on the London scene, thanks in part to Vidal Sassoon, who created her iconic five-point haircut, inspired by her own unique style. As a model, Grace Coddington effortlessly transformed from a bohemian muse to Helmut Newton’s glamorous bombshell. However, her modeling career was cut short by a car accident at the age of 26. Beatrix Miller, editor of British Vogue, recognized her potential as a stylist and offered her a junior fashion editor position at the magazine two years after the accident. Coddington excelled in the role and climbed the ranks to become British Vogue’s fashion director by 1976. She eventually left the magazine in 1987 to become Calvin Klein’s design director. Klein later said that Coddington was the first European fashion editor to fully appreciate American design.
In 1988, Anna Wintour, a former colleague at British Vogue, invited Coddington to join American Vogue as creative director. “When she accepted, I was thrilled,” Wintour recalled. Coddington’s romantic, richly detailed aesthetic consistently delivered powerful visual narratives rooted in beauty rather than allegory. Her vision and approach quickly became industry-defining. Within a year at American Vogue, R.J. Cutler, director of The September Issue, declared, “Every billboard, fashion magazine, every ad you see today is influenced by Grace Coddington.”
After three decades at the magazine, Coddington decided in 2016 to pursue external projects while continuing to contribute as Vogue’s creative editor. “It’s just a different approach. I’m certainly not retiring,” she clarified. A lifelong artist, she recently designed murals for the San Vicente Bungalows in West Hollywood, became the face of clean beauty brand Merit in May, and collaborated with French ceramics studio Astier de Villatte to create a porcelain collection featuring her drawings.