Grace Mirabella

American fashion journalist (1929–2021)

Marie Grace Mirabella (June 10, 1929 – December 23, 2021) was an American fashion journalist who was editor in chief of Vogue magazine between 1971 and 1988. She founded Mirabella magazine in 1989, and continued there until 1996.

Marie Grace Mirabella was born on June 10, 1929, in Newark, New Jersey, Her father, an importer of wine and liquor, died in the 1940s; due to a gambling addiction he left debts that his wife and daughter inherited. and went into fashion after seeing the opportunity for women to advance in their careers.

Mirabella began her career by working in a family friend's sportswear shop. After college, she held several junior positions in retail, including at Macy's as an executive trainee and Saks Fifth Avenue as an assistant to the sales promotion manager. During most of the 1960s, she was the magazine's associate editor in chief under Diana Vreeland. In 1971, she was appointed editor in chief and brought in a more casual feel that contrasted with the way the magazine had been defined in its earlier years. Under Mirabella, more articles were aimed towards "The Modern Woman". Her obituary in The Guardian describes her as a "no nonsense champion of practical fashion". According to her successor as editor in chief, Anna Wintour, "She eschewed fantasy and escapism in favor of a style that was chicly minimalist and which spoke clearly and directly to the newly liberated ways we wanted to live." She was noted for bringing in and showcasing designs from Halston, Saint Laurent, Geoffrey Beene, and Ralph Lauren. During her tenure as editor in chief at Vogue, advertising revenue increased to $79.5 million, compared with $39 million for Elle, and the magazine's circulation grew from 400,000 to 1.2 million. In the 1980s, Mirabella began to be considered "out of step with the times"; <! There was considerable speculation about why Newhouse fired Mirabella; the predominant explanation in circulation, which was later discussed in her autobiography, In and Out of Vogue, was that Newhouse wanted to go with a younger looking woman who trusted no one but Newhouse himself. By 1993, Mirabella's influence as founder waned, and she left in 1996. In later years, Mirabella wrote a style column for New York based Quest magazine, and launched the online magazine The Aesthete. She also wrote a book about Tiffany & Co. that was published in 1997.

Mirabella married Dr. William G. Cahan in November 1974. Her autobiography, In and Out of Vogue, describes her relationships with people that she worked with at the magazine, including Diana Vreeland, Andy Warhol, Jessica Daves, and Si Newhouse. She died on December 23, 2021, at the age of 92, at her home in Manhattan.