Reliable sources are buzzing that Paul Ritter was not Anna Wintour’s first choice for the job of new Glamour creative director.
She had originally wanted Alex Gonzalez, the artistic director of Marie Claire, for the job.
While Ritter was a good raid, Gonzalez considered among the best in the business, with a long history at GQ and some of Condé Nast’s European Vogue editions.
Gonzalez was also the art director when Stefano Tonchi was reinveting W two years ago and was seen as a big reason why it caught fire at the time. He was also a prize that Nina Garcia sought to recruit when she was elevated to the fashion director job at Marie Claire — and Hearst brass obliged.
Gonzalez is also the partner of Raul Martinez, both personal and business through their work as co-founders of the hot design studio AR New York.
Martinez is already working in-house as Wintour’s valued “consultant design director” at Vogue.
He has also been working with Wintour and Glamour Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive on overhauling the second-most-profitable magazine in the Condé stable.
Despite all the inside connections, Condé was not able to lure Gonzalez away.
Once Hearst management caught wind of the move, they gave him a second title, Town & Country, which lost its art director to Barney’s in May. Gonzalez did not return a call seeking comment.