Condé Nast, publisher of Vogue and The New Yorker, will move out of its historic offices in London’s Mayfair next year as it continues to streamline its editorial operations.
The magazine giant confirmed to the Financial Times that it aims to move all staff from the seven-storey Vogue House in Hanover Square to the Adelphi offices on the Embankment after more than 65 years, “potentially” by January 2024.
“There is no other way to say it – leaving the beautiful home of Vogue will be difficult”, according to an email sent to staff on Wednesday morning. “After many attempts to find ways to expand and redesign the space to meet our needs, there were many challenges to overcome.”
The announcement comes as Condé Nast continues the process of restructuring its editorial operations and pivoting to a digitally-led revenue model.
The privately held company said it expects to break even in 2021 with $2bn in revenue, and an insider told Axios in August 2022 that it expects total revenue to rise in 2022, driven by digital advertising sales.
Vogue House, which is the headquarters of Vogue UK, was completed in 1958 and is owned by the Church of England.
This building is a fixture of the London fashion scene, the office where Dame Anna Wintour cut her teeth as an editor and where photographer Lord Snowdon first met his muse Jean Shrimpton, the icon of the “swinging sixties”.
Sir Nicholas Coleridge, the former editorial director of Condé Nast Britain, wrote in his memoirs about Vogue House’s “notoriously unbelievable” elevator and the view it would offer London society. “When the elevator doors open (if they do) there may be people inside,” he wrote.
“Princess of Wales [Diana] came in and out of Vogue House all the time in the early nineties to borrow clothes. Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, a procession of male models on their way to the casting in GQ, interns collecting coffee, posh-potty walking dogs, interior designers sending lampshades to Home & GardenThis is the daily traffic from the Vogue House elevator,” he wrote.
The office move was not a cost-cutting move, but was driven by frustration with the limitations of running a modern editorial business in the old building, according to people familiar with the matter.
Others said management had realized the group had a lot of unused office space because staff had been working from home more often since the start of the pandemic.
“During the last six months, we have seen many options in our search to find a place that is flexible enough to grow with us, while also reflecting the diverse evolution and transformation of our company”, read an email to staff.
“We are planning to expand our footprint and redesign our space in the Adelphi.”