权力即时尚 Power Is Always in Vogue
Power Is Always in Vogue
权力即时尚
WHEN Anna Wintour was in Paris for Fashion Week in March, there was one topic the Vogue editor couldn’t stop talking about. And it had nothing to do with the winter collections.
安娜・温图尔(Anna Wintour)3月在巴黎参加时装周时，有一个话题让这位《Vogue》杂志主编一聊起来就没完，而那是一个跟时装毫无关系的话题。
Who was going to win the French presidential election in a few weeks, she wondered aloud to several seat mates in the front row.
坐在观众席前排，她与身边的几个人交流着谁将在几周后赢得法国总统大选。
Catch Ms. Wintour in New York today, and you might just get an earful about the crucial swing states for President Obama or the pitiful Spanish and Greek economies.
如今在纽约，要是碰到了温图尔，你也许能听到她大谈那些个关键的、立场摇摆不定的州对奥巴马总统的意义，或者西班牙与希腊经济糟糕到不行。
And don’t even get her started on the international fabric trade. Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, recalled a conversation she had with Ms. Wintour on the subject. “She said, ‘You may not realize this, but the tariffs and the treaties we have in place fundamentally affect the ability to provide various goods to various markets at an affordable rate,’ ” Senator Gillibrand said.
千万别让她开口谈国际纺织品交易。纽约州民主党籍参议员陆天娜(Kirsten E. Gillibrand)回忆说，她曾就这个问题与温图尔展开过讨论。“她说，‘也许你还没意识到这一点，但我们目前的关税与贸易协定从根本上影响了我们以合理价格向不同市场供应不同货品的能力’。”陆天娜说。
After that meeting, Senator Gillibrand emerged from Vogue’s offices high above Times Square with a list of stores and vendors that Ms. Wintour suggested she visit so she could better understand how trade affects businesses in the city.
这次会面结束后，陆天娜走出俯瞰着时报广场的Vogue办公室，手中握着一长串商店和供应商清单，温图尔建议她一一走访，这样就能更好地理解贸易是如何对纽约的商业产生影响。
For those who know Ms. Wintour only as the icy, inscrutable character obsessed over in the tabloids and satirized on film, it can be impossible to separate her from the fashion runways she terrorizes from behind those dark sunglasses. But she has emerged as something more: an engaged politico and valuable asset to President Obama and his re-election effort.
一些人认为温图尔只是个冰冷、神秘的人物，是让小报着迷的对象，是电影中讽刺的原型，他们几乎无法将她与那个戴着深色墨镜、坐在时装T台旁咄咄逼人的形象区分开来。但她展现出了另一面：她是一个专注的政治人物，是奥巴马总统与其追求连任途中宝贵的资产。
This is Ms. Wintour’s second campaign working as an Obama bundler, those well-connected and highly motivated wranglers of cash for political candidates. Her latest effort for the president came on Thursday evening at a 50-person, $40,000-a-plate dinner she co-hosted at the West Village town house of Sarah Jessica Parker.
这已是温图尔为奥巴马第二次助选，她是奥巴马“包装机”中的一员――这是一群非常有人脉、为了总统候选人筹资而锐意进取的先行者。6月14日晚上，她在纽约西村莎拉・杰茜卡・帕克(Sarah Jessica Parker)的别墅中举行了一场面向50人，每位收取4万美元费用的晚宴。这是她最近一次为总统做出的贡献。
During a question-and-answer session with Mr. Obama, Ms. Wintour had command of the room. She called on Meryl Streep, who asked the president what he could do to attract more talented people to government jobs. (Though Ms. Streep professed she probably already knew: increase salaries.)
在与奥巴马总统进行的问答环节中，温图尔掌控了全场。她让梅丽尔・斯特里普(Meryl Streep)提问，后者问总统，他该怎么样才能吸引更多有才华的人去政府做事（不过斯特里普承认，对此她早有了答案：加薪）。
Michael Kors, the designer, asked about same-sex marriage. And Trey Laird, the advertising excecutive, wanted to know about tax policy. All the while, Ms. Wintour sat and listened.
设计师迈克尔・考斯(Michael Kors)问及同性婚姻的话题。而广告业高管特雷・莱尔德(Trey Laird)想要了解有关税收政策的问题。在大家提问的时候，温图尔一直坐在那里，侧耳聆听。
In 2008 she helped collect an estimated $200,000 to Mr. Obama’s election efforts. She also co-hosted two fund-raisers, one with Calvin Klein, another with Ms. Parker.
2008年，她为奥巴马的竞选活动筹款，估计筹得20万美元。她还与他人一起主办了两次筹款活动，一次与卡尔文・克莱恩(Calvin Klein)合作，一次与帕克合作。
The president visited her home on Sullivan Street in 2010 for a mixer, where guests like Donna Karan and Calvin Klein paid up to $30,400 each to mingle. She teamed up with the Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein late last summer for another Obama event at Mr. Weinstein’s home. The fee was $35,800.
2010年，总统登门去她位于苏利文街的家中参加聚会，像唐娜・卡伦(Donna Karan)和卡尔文・克莱恩这些客人，每人缴纳了30400美元的费用。去年夏末，她与好莱坞大亨哈维・温斯坦(Harvey Weinstein)合作，在后者的家中主办了另外一场为奥巴马筹款活动，收费是每人35800美元。
“I can tell you she is incredibly concerned about where this country is going,” Mr. Weinstein said. Friends have described her as a staunch Democrat, a bit of a leftie, as one put it. The devil reads Pravda?
“可以说，她对这个国家的未来非常关心。”哈维・温斯坦说。朋友们形容她是个坚定的民主党，还有一个人称她立场有点偏左。她是读《真理报》(Pravada)的女魔头？
She donated to Senator John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004 and Hillary Rodham Clinton’s senatorial efforts. But her political involvement has also aided more provincial concerns. She has put money and time into helping state legislators in New York who voted to legalize same-sex marriage. And in the 1990s she was instrumental in mobilizing the fashion industry’s campaign to fight AIDS.
安娜・温图尔曾为参议员约翰・克里(John Kerry)2004年的总统选战，以及希拉里・罗德海姆・克林顿(Hillary Rodham Clinton)的参议员竞选捐款。不过她从事的政治活动还涉及更加民间的事务。她曾出资出力，帮助支持同性婚姻合法化的纽约州议员。在20世纪90年代，她还参与组织了时尚业抗击艾滋病的运动。
Politics has always surrounded Ms. Wintour, whether by choice or by birth. Her father, Charles Wintour, was the editor of the London Evening Standard. Her brother Patrick is the politics editor of The Guardian. The editor she is closest to at Condé Nast, the conglomerate that runs Vogue, Vanity Fair and other widely read magazines, is David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker.
政治一直围绕在温图尔左右，这既是与生俱来的，也是她个人的选择。她的父亲查尔斯・温图尔(Charles Wintour)是《伦敦旗帜晚报》(London Evening Standard)主编。哥哥派特里克是《卫报》(The Guardian)的政治新闻编辑。在康迪纳仕(Condé Nast)这家旗下包括《Vogue》、《名利场》等众多发行量巨大的杂志的媒体集团中，与她走得最近的主编，是《纽约客》主编大卫・雷姆尼克(David Remnick)。
This year she approached Ms. Parker about joining forces. Her pitch, according to one person who knows them both, was business-minded and strategic: to justify the $40,000-a-person price tag, they would need the star power that the two of them could deliver as a team.
今年她主动找到帕克，希望二人联手。据一个与她们相识的人介绍说，她在谈到自己的主张时颇具商业头脑和战略眼光：她认为，为了让4万美元一位的收费显得物有所值，她们就需要来点明星的力量，所以她们两人应该结成同盟。
Her political activity has led to speculation that she might be angling for a plum patronage position. An ambassadorship, perhaps. London? Paris? Her friends say the chatter is completely unfounded, just as it was four years ago.
她的政治活动让人不禁揣测，她是否瞄准了某个高级政府职位。也许是大使。驻伦敦？巴黎？她的朋友说这种说法毫无根据，四年前如此，现在也是一样。
“She has absolutely no interest in an ambassadorship,” a close friend said this week, insisting on anonymity to protect that friendship. “None. I can say that definitively.”
“她对担任大使绝对是半分兴趣也没有，”6月中旬她的一位密友这样说。为了保护他们的友情，此人坚决要求隐去姓名：“毫无兴趣，对这点我敢打包票。”
Millard Drexler, the chief executive of J. Crew, was among those attending Thursday night’s fund-raiser. “I don’t think this is about her interest in politics,” Mr. Drexler said. “I think this is about her interested in taking on something she believes in. And when she takes something on, she does it with a great amount of ferocity.”
J．Crew的首席执行官米拉德・德雷克斯勒(Millard Drexler)参加了6月14日晚上的筹款晚宴。他：，“我觉得这跟她对政治的兴趣无关，她只是对做那些她深信的事情感兴趣罢了。而且只要她着手做某件事情，就会带着极大的热忱做下去。”
Inside the White House, the glamour factor has been the source of much strain and complication, weighing on decisions as seemingly inconsequential as choosing an interior designer to redecorate the private residence and picking the right pair of sneakers for Mrs. Obama to wear to a food bank. The Obamas tried to be exceedingly cautious out of a fear that they would be punished, particular in the conservative media, for being too chic, too out of touch.
在白宫内部，时尚圈的光环反而叫人头痛又伤神，即使是那些看似无关紧要的决定，比如挑选一位室内设计师重新装饰下私邸，或者为奥巴马夫人前往救济食品发放中心时选一双合适的运动鞋，都会让他们烦恼不已。奥巴马夫妇希望尽可能慎重其事，担心如果显得太时髦、太高不可攀，会遭到尤其是保守派媒体的抨击。
“It is always a worry: how is this going to play in Peoria?” said Anita McBride, who was chief of staff to Laura Bush and an adviser to three Republican White Houses.
“这总归让人担心：这一套在皮奥里亚(伊利诺伊州第二大城市――译注)玩得转吗？”劳拉・布什(Laura Bush)的幕僚长、三届共和党白宫政府顾问安妮塔・迈克布莱德(Anita McBride)这样说。
Ultimately, Ms. McBride said, it is a balance the president and his team either learn to handle or not: “Look at Nancy Reagan. She got vilified for having Betsy Bloomingdale as a friend and for wearing Adolfo. But she got the last laugh by showing up in rags at the Gridiron Dinner and singing ‘Second Hand Rose.’ ”
迈克布莱德说，说到底，总统和他的团队要么能学会找到平衡点，要么放弃：“看看南希・里根(Nancy Reagan)。就因为她跟贝琪・布鲁明戴尔(Betsy Bloomingdale)是朋友，就因为她穿阿道夫(Adolfo)设计的时装，就遭到中伤。可她穿着二手的破衣烂衫去参加烤架俱乐部晚宴（Gridiron Dinner，白宫记者每年组织一场晚宴，总统会亲自出席参与搞笑――译注），唱着《二手玫瑰》，成了笑到最后的人。”
In the era of Tea Party austerity, the need to avoid the next fiasco over a $400 haircut (see Edwards, John) or exorbitant Tiffany’s credit line (Gingrich, Newt and Callista) has only grown. Indeed, the White House predicted the inevitable backlash after Ms. Wintour appeared in a video shot by Obama campaign videographers at her town house. But they mishandled the rollout by releasing the video on the same day a Labor Department report showed the unemployment rate had risen.
在茶党厉行节俭时期，更要竭力避免再次遭遇类似理一次发花400美元那样的丑闻（参见约翰・爱德华兹[John Edwards]）或者蒂凡内（Tiffany）的信用额度畸高）。事实上，白宫预计在奥巴马竞选团队的摄影师于温图尔的别墅中拍摄了她的视频后，选情将不可避免遭遇反冲。但他们处理的方式却非常不妥当，选择在劳工部(Labor Department)公布失业率上升的同一天，对外界发布这条视频。
Republican cackling ensued. Rush Limbaugh mocked him as “Barack Hussein Kardashian.”
共和党立刻发出一声哂笑。拉什・林堡(Rush Limbaugh)讥讽总统是“巴拉克・侯赛因・卡戴珊”(Barack Hussein Kardashian，金・卡戴珊为社交名媛――译注)。
The Obama campaign is clearly skittish about having too much attention on this aspect of their fund-raising apparatus. When The New York Times attempted to interview Ms. Wintour and Ms. Parker for this article, their publicists sent their regrets. The campaign is nervous, they said.
奥巴马竞选团队显然不希望对这种资金筹募活动引来过度关注。《纽约时报》为了本文试图采访温图尔和帕克，她们的公关人员都表示婉拒。她们说，奥巴马的选举团队现在很紧张。
But Mr. Obama’s team proceeds with these high star-power events anyway, betting that the benefits of the five-figure checks they produce far outweigh any blow-back they might hear on Fox News or read in Red State. Of all the issues that are likely to shape the outcome of a presidential election, celebrity-studded fund-raisers are not among them, the president’s advisers believe. And for good measure, they are always quick to note Mitt Romney’s recent fund-raising gambit: “Dine With the Donald,” a contest in which people who donate $3 to Mr. Romney’s campaign can win a dinner with Donald Trump.
不过，奥巴马团队仍然在继续组织这类巨星筹资活动，将赌注押在他们取得的五位数的支票，好处远远胜过福克斯新闻网或红色之州博客(Red State)报道带来的打击。总统的顾问们相信，在所有可能为总统大选的后果带来影响的议题中，星光闪耀的筹款者并不在其列。此外，他们还总是立刻提及米特・罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)近来的筹款策略：“与唐纳德共进晚餐”，在这场比赛中，所有向罗姆尼竞选活动捐献了3美元的人，都有机会赢得与唐纳德・特朗普(Donald Trump)共进晚餐的机会。
The relationship has long been a two-way street between the Obama White House and celebrity patrons. Ms. Parker and Ms. Wintour were named to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Ms. Wintour has attended two White House state dinners.
在奥巴马白宫政府与明星赞助人之间，关系一直是双向的。帕克与温图尔被任命为总统艺术与人文委员会(President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities)委员。温图尔参加过两次白宫国宴。
The pages of Vogue have certainly been kind to the Obamas. Mrs. Obama appeared on the cover shortly after the inauguration. Annie Leibovitz shot the photos. (Ms. Leibovitz also photographed Mr. Obama for the cover of Men’s Vogue in 2008.) André Leon Talley, Vogue’s editor at large, wrote about the first lady in hagiographic terms. “She focuses all her calm attention on your face,” he beamed. “Being the focus of this reassuring gaze is akin to hearing a chord from John Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme.’ Or maybe Ralph Vaughan Williams’s ‘The Lark Ascending.’ All is well and right and real.”
《Vogue》杂志当然也对奥巴马夫妇投桃报李。奥巴马夫人在就职典礼不久后，就登上了该刊封面。这组照片由安妮・莱博维茨(Annie Leibovitz)拍摄（莱博维茨还曾在2008年拍摄奥巴马，照片登上《Men’s Vogue》杂志封面）。《Vogue》杂志由主笔编辑安德烈・莱昂・塔利(André Leon Talley)在文中用圣徒传的笔法来描写第一夫人。“她将她平和的注意力全部倾注在你的脸上，”他赞叹道：“成为这道如此令人安心的目光的焦点，近乎于聆听一曲约翰・柯川(John Coltrane)的《至高无上的爱》。或是雷夫・佛汉・威廉斯(Ralph Vaughan Williams)的《云雀高飞》。一切是那么美好、恰当而又真实。”
Ms. Wintour may be well on her way to proving her savvy as a political player. But how quickly the political world will see her as something else is another question altogether.
温图尔也许正踌躇满志，想要证明自己作为政坛玩家的悟性。但政界是否能马上对她另眼相看，就完全是另一个问题了。
Last Tuesday she was in Chicago at an Obama fund-raiser, where she introduced a line of pet clothes created by top designers. There was a Marc Jacobs dog sweater embroidered with “Bark for Obama” and a Thakoon leash and collar ― all for sale, with the proceeds going to the Obama campaign.
6月5日，她在芝加哥参加奥巴马的募捐活动，在现场她介绍了由顶级设计师创作的宠物时装系列。当中有一件马克・雅可布(Marc Jacobs)设计的小狗毛衣，上面印着“为奥巴马高吠”(Bark for Obama)的字样，另有一条塔库恩(Thakoon)设计的皮带与颈圈――这些都对外出售，所得资金捐献给奥巴马竞选活动。
Ms. Wintour delivered remarks to the guests, some of whom paid $1,000 to have a picture taken with her. She said that when she was first approached by Matthew Barzun, the finance chairman of the campaign, she assumed he wanted to talk politics, or fund-raising, or perhaps hear her views on Europe.
温图尔向来宾致词，其中一些人为了与她拍照合影付出了1000美元。她说，在竞选活动财务主席马修・巴尔赞(Matthew Barzun)初次跟她接触时，还以为他会跟她谈政治或者筹资活动，要么是听听她对欧洲的观点。
“I did all my homework and went to the lunch with a big file, and he sat down at the meeting and said, ‘Anna, I want to talk to you about pets,’ ” she said.
“我做足了准备工作，带着一个大文件袋去赴午餐会，然后他坐下来对我说，‘安娜，我想跟你聊聊宠物’。”她说。