In honor of the onset of New York Fashion Week, we’re taking a look at Anna Wintour’s birth chart.
Born on November 3, 1949, in the old as dirt and rich AF enclave of Hampstead, England, Anna Wintour has a “the world is mine” Scorpio Sun, an ID on fire Aries Moon, an exacting Virgo Mars, and a pirate-hearted Sagittarius Venus.
Scorpio is the sign of the subconscious, the underworld, sex, death and other people’s resources, lending natives a magnetic albeit vaguely villainous air.
Anna Wintour’s birth chart: ‘The world is mine’
On that villain tip, Tim Gunn has compared Wintour to Medusa. Designer Ralph Rucci has called her “satanic” and the cause of “so much personal evil and destruction,” and André Leon Talley described her as “ruthless” and “incapable of human kindness” in his memoir.
And yet it would all seem to be meat for the mythos, folks.
Scorpios are notoriously secretive, and Wintour is no exception, infamous for shielding her eyes with omnipresent coaster-sized dark sunglasses, even when being KNIGHTED by the queen herself.
“They help me see and they help me not see,” Wintour told the BBC in 2024. “They help me be seen and not be seen. They are a prop, I would say.”
A cloak, a cane and a fog machine or crocodile boots, a blown-out bob and Chanel glasses? All apt armor for an adversary.
Named for the god of war, Mars is the planet of action and aggression and is the modern ruler of Aries (Wintour’s moon) and the ancient ruler of Scorpio (her sun), two signs for whom second place is an insult.
In tandem, this sun/moon pairing is skilled in the art of conquering, combining long-game strategies of control (Scorpio) with the heaving need to win (Aries).
Destroying anything that stands in your way while perennially looking like you’re stepping out to a garden party? Serious mistress of Mars energy
This is a combination born for domination. Playing only to win and eliminating whatever woeful soul is brave or stupid enough to compete with them. The truly astonishing feat is not how well they wield their willpower, but how nonchalant and almost breezy they make any bloodsport, literal or metaphorical, seem.
Scorpio sun and Aries Moon : ‘Better dead than second place’
Destroying anything that stands in your way while perennially looking like you’re stepping out to a garden party? Serious mistress of Mars energy.
This sun/moon also serves to explain Wintour’s lifelong passion for tennis, which she aptly describes as a competition between “gladiators.”
Ever for the kill, only for the win.
Shall we talk empire building and power playing?
Wintour was appointed editor-in-chief of Vogue in 1988 and, in 2020, became the global editorial director of the magazine. She is also the chief content officer for Condé Nast, the magazine’s parent publisher, expanding her influence to an unprecedented global level.
Her intimidating reputation was all but cemented with the 2003 publication of “The Devil Wears Prada,” believed to be inspired by Wintour and written by Lauren Weisberger, a former Vogue assistant.
As the film showcases and Wintour embodies, a Scorpio sun/Aries moon is divisive, decisive and direct, making for a devastating enemy and a magnetic leader.
A Scorpio seethes but never cedes.
As Wintour has said, “People respond well to those who are sure of what they want. What people hate most is indecision. Even if I’m completely unsure, I’ll pretend I know exactly what I’m talking about and make a decision.”
Pretending in order to maintain an air of absolute authority? Checks out.
In June, Wintour sent shock waves through the media world when she announced that she was stepping away from her role as Vogue’s editor in chief.
While Wintour is shifting her focus, she’s in no way retiring. She will remain on as Conde Nast’s global chief content officer and Vogue’s global editorial director.
Mark my words, a Scorpio seethes but never cedes.
Anna Wintour Venus sign
In astrology, Venus represents our relationship to aesthetics and attraction. Wintour’s Venus is in bon vivant Sagittarius, a sign known for expansiveness. We see this expressed in Wintour’s noted distaste for black and personal preference for bold, florals.
“There’s room for everyone in fashion,” she curiously assured Vogue viewers.
The free-wheeling, weird-worshipping aesthetic is perhaps most markedly displayed through her stewardship of the annual Met Gala, which, under her rule, has welcomed whimsical themes and inspired a lexicon of unexpected, iconic red-carpet looks.
See Jared Leto holding his own head, Rihanna popping off as the pope, Zendaya as Joan of Arc and Billy Porter being carried on a chariot like the golden Virgo god he is.
But it ain’t all finery, flitting and f–kery folks as our girl has Mars, the planet of drive and desire, in the punishing, perfecting sign of Virgo.
Mars in Virgo
Mars is the planet of will and Virgo is the sign of ritual purification, in kind, and more often, cruel, a Virgo Mars is willfully withering.
Mars in Virgo expects excellence and makes no grand show of appreciation when it is delivered, though you’ll know with an arched eyebrow and a pursed lip if you’ve fallen short.
There’s something intimidating and impenetrable about this placement that makes people want to prove themselves like a middle child picked last for the dodgeball team.
Virgo is blessed/burdened with the ability to see the potential and the potential failure in all things and all people, a scope that makes a Virgo Mars person able to read, and read to filth anyone in their orbit.
Being around them feels a little like being skinned alive, as no Mars placement is more capable of executing a diss or a full tilt dressing down than this. They also don’t care about being liked; they care about being right, which makes them both inspiring and utterly off-putting.
Lukewarm royalty with a whip from outer space
As Wintour herself said in a MasterClass segment,
“You need to be direct, you need to be honest, and you need to be very clear about what it is you want to do with your life. You can’t be everything to everybody.”
But damn if you can’t be the devil to some.
To that end, Wintour is nothing if not self-aware, and her own summation of the rumors that surround her amounts to an ode to her astrology.
“I’m an ice queen, I’m the sun king, I’m an alien fleeing from District 8, and I’m a dominatrix. So I reckon that makes me lukewarm royalty with a whip from outer space.”
Keep up the rodeo, Anna, we’ll wait on bended knee.
Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. To book a reading, visit her website.
