The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Film star Anne Hathaway reportedly walked out of a photoshoot in New York on Tuesday for Vanity Fair in a show of solidarity with striking workers for the magazine’s publisher, Condé Nast.
The actor had been prepared with make-up and hair styling but had not begun posing for pictures when word reached her that media workers were taking part in a 24-hour work stoppage amid union-corporation negotiations, Variety magazine was first to report on Tuesday.
About 400 workers who are union members at Condé Nast and working for titles including Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ and others had downed pens in a protest at the way the publisher is negotiating over lay-offs.
Hathaway was on the premises for photoshoot on Tuesday morning.
ADVERTISEMENT
“They hadn’t even started taking photos yet,” Variety magazine reported an unnamed source telling the outlet, adding: “Once Anne was made aware of what was going on, she just got up from hair and makeup and left.”
The Guardian has reached out to Condé Nast and representatives of Hathaway for comment.
Workers walked off the job in the morning around the time the Oscar nominations were announced, Variety further reported, and held a rally outside the company’s offices in Manhattan.
The union posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying: “Thank you Anne Hathaway for not crossing our picket line.”
Learn more:
Condé Nast Set to Lay Off 5 Percent of Workforce
The publisher of titles like Vogue and Vanity Fair announced in a note sent to employees on Tuesday that it would lay off 5 percent of its workforce — around 270 employees, primarily in its video division, Condé Nast Entertainment — following a restructuring.
Despite threats of disruption from protests, the Condé Nast union and TikTok’s legal woes, the event continued as planned with attendees dazzling in bespoke and archival ensembles.
The race to dress fashion’s biggest stars has gotten tighter — and brands are deploying fresh, social media-friendly tactics to generate buzz.
The Business of Fashion is seeking candidates for a six-month, part-time, paid reporting fellowship with our editorial team, designed to empower aspiring Black journalists.
The stylist is set to unveil a bi-annual print magazine and digital platform, with a team that includes Holly Shackleton and Fran Burns.