Jean Paul Gaultier skirt, Vivienne Westwood T shirt, Balenciaga bag
She describes seeing Björk ‘in the wild’ as a ‘game-changing’ influence on her decision to pursue fashion journalism rather than medicine. ‘Björk lived in Soho and I used to see her quite regularly,’ she explains. ‘She was always wearing these great looks with amazing hair and different trainers. I was obsessed – the first time I went to her concert I cried. So seeing her out, turning sportswear into streetwear… it was heaven to me to get those sightings.’
During her English degree in Manchester University Nnadi said she realised that London was ‘not the centre of the world. I was so into music and Manchester was the place to be. I was really into the rave scene there, the style was so cool.’ After The Evening Standard, Nnadi moved to New York for jobs with indie magazines Trace and The Fader. She first met with Wintour in 2010 to interview for the job of fashion writer at American Vogue. She was called in at short notice and wore jeans – ‘controversial’ – with a blazer.
It was Wintour who suggested that Nnadi should apply for the top job. As The Devil Wears Prada will tell you, it’s one that ‘a million girls would kill for’, but Nnadi says she had no game plan to get it. This time she didn’t wear jeans for the interview. ‘It wasn’t like I had to [introduce myself] because my colleagues have seen the entire range of my style,’ she says. ‘They knew what to expect.’
Nnadi describes several rounds of high-stakes interviews, including with Wintour and a particularly memorable meeting with her British Vogue predecessor Edward Enninful, which really made her sweat. ‘I remember having an interview with Edward when he was in New York,’ she says. ‘For that I wore a Molly Goddard neon-pink cardigan and an Argyle Miu Miu shirt, and a long Zara skirt. It was a really hot day, sweltering, and I was nervous, even though he knew me too already. We met at Cipriani, we had tea. He was fine, but yes I was sweating.’
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