Former Vogue China editor reveals the wildest meeting she had with Anna Wintour

Australian-based fashionista Grace Lam has shared a wild story about turning down a high-profile job offer from her former boss, Anna Wintour.

Wintour, 76, is the world-famous style guru who is the basis for Meryl Streep's 'villain' character in The Devil Wears Prada movie franchise. 

But Lam, 51, proved fearless when she confronted Wintour about a coveted role in Shanghai.

At the time, Lam was living in Perth, raising a young family, after already spending a decade as senior fashion editor for Vogue China.

Lam said Wintour wanted to talk to her about returning to her old magazine, but this time as editor-in-chief.   

'Working in China is tricky. It's not as easy as people think,' Lam shared in the latest episode of Mamamia Unleashed.

She continued, 'And I was like, "I don't want to bring up my son in China".'

Still, the style queen agreed to take a Zoom with Wintour, who is known for her trademark dark glasses, bobbed hairdo, and a 'demanding' manner with her employees.  

'So then she called me without glasses,' Lam said.

'...Straight away, she said to me, "How are you doing in Perth?".'

Adding that this was the first proper conversation she had ever had with Wintour, Lam joked that she did not find the media veteran 'scary at all'.

'So it was like, "We're looking for a new editor-in-chief for Vogue China. Your name came up quite a few times",' Lam said of the job interview.

'Straight away, I said, "No",' she added.

'I said, "I don't want to live in China again. I've done that. And I have a son to think about. So, I'm not doing it." So, then we hung up.

'I was like, "Wow, that was kind of surreal". So, then I emailed my president. And he said, "You are the only person that I know that said no to Anna Wintour".'

And I said, "I'm going to put that down on my gravestone".'

Lam added that at the time of the job offer, she was 'tired' of the luxury fashion world, which she characterised as 'b***hy' and 'neurotic'. 

The Hong Kong-born Lam relocated to Melbourne from Perth with her Aussie husband, Jason Capobianco, and their teenage son, Theo, in 2025.

Now a consultant, Lam began her career in fashion in London, where she studied at the Chelsea College of Arts and Central St Martins.

She later scored a gig at i-D magazine before being recruited to Vogue China as senior fashion editor in 2005. 

Lam left the role in 2014 to start her Grace Lam Style consultancy in Hong Kong, which then relocated to Australia.