Grace Mirabella, longtime editor of Vogue, dead at 92

Grace Mirabella, an influential voice in fashion during her 17 years as editor-in-chief for Vogue magazine, died Thursday at her home in New York City. She was 92.

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Mirabella’s death was confirmed by her stepson, Anthony Cahan, The New York Times reported.

Mirabella began working at Vogue in 1951 as an assistant in the merchandising department, before moving to its editorial staff three years later, Vogue reported. After a brief stint as head of publicity for the Roman couturier Simonetta, she returned to the U.S. and to Vogue. She became one of the magazine’s top assistants when Diana Vreeland was named editor-in-chief in 1963, The Washington Post reported. During that period, Mirabella described Vogue as a place “with wonderful-looking editors who strolled like peacocks through the halls.”

Vreeland’s firing by Vogue’s publisher, Condé Nast, in 1971, was a surprise despite falling circulation numbers and advertising revenue, the Times reported. Mirabella was notified of her promotion while on a photoshoot in California.

“It was very difficult to work for her,” Mirabella told Post in 1988. “But you can get along with someone who is difficult if you admire them.”

Mirabella remained as the magazine’s editor-in-chief until 1988, Vogue reported.

Under Mirabella’s watch, Vogue emphasized the natural in hairstyles, makeup and clothing over artifice, the Times reported.

The magazine added sections on the arts, fitness, health and beauty while keeping its emphasis on fashion. Circulation tripled during Mirabella’s tenure, to more than 1.2 million in 1988 from 400,000 in 1971, according to the newspaper.

“She was an icon, a legacy,” Samir Husni, a professor of journalism and director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism, told the Times.

“Nobody ever wrote a book about her, ‘The Devil Wears Prada,’” Husni said, a reference to the novel, later made into a movie, based on Mirabella’s successor at Vogue, Anna Wintour. “She wore the Prada without the devil.”

Marie Grace Mirabella was born on June 10, 1929, in Newark, New Jersey, the Times reported. She was the daughter of Anthony Mirabella, a sales manager for a liquor importing company, and Florence Belfatto Mirabella, who had immigrated from Italy.

She graduated from Skidmore College in 1950, majoring in economics, Vogue reported. Mirabella earned a place on the Macy’s executive training course and later moved to the publicity department at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Mirabella returned to Vogue in 1955 as the shopping editor, the Times reported.

After rising to the editor’s position in 1971, Mirabella learned about her firing in 1988 after it was announced on television by gossip columnist Liz Smith, the Post reported. Her bosses at Condé Nast, owner S.I. Newhouse Jr. and creative director Alexander Liberman, had not told Mirabella that she was being replaced by Wintour.

Soon afterward, Mirabella met Rupert Murdoch for lunch, and the media mogul financed a new magazine with Mirabella not only at the helm, but with her name on the cover, according to the newspaper.

Mirabella magazine debuted in 1989, designed to fill a niche for somewhat older women who were interested in more than fashion, according to the Post.

She left the magazine in 1996 to lecture and do freelance writing, the Times reported. The publication closed four years later.

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