Wintour went on to praise Thomson-Jonville for her meteoric start at Vogue France. “In the space of only a couple of months, Claire has been just that. She also is the absolute embodiment of French chic—even if she was born in Scotland!” The audience chuckled again. “This past fall, during her interview process in New York, I heard many of her meetings were conducted at the gym,” she added with a knowing smile. “So many congratulations, Claire, and welcome to Vogue. It’s a great pleasure to have you on our team.”
Welch then took the stage to welcome Hazan to GQ France with equal enthusiasm and humor. “I keep telling Claire that actually fashion is very warm and welcoming… as long as you are really cool, and smart, and poised, and sophisticated, and stylish, and socially adept… and as long as you have really great taste, and you are nice—but not too nice, in a needy way, ya know?”
He continued, “Claire comes to us from Spotify, where she was head of podcasts, so she’s also going to be teaching me a few things about making hugely successful digital content series. And I’m happy to say that yesterday she was pinging back and forth all day between fashion shows and her first cover shoot—I hear it went well, so stay tuned.”
As glasses were raised and cheers rang out, it was clear that the two Claires have already made a lasting impression on the fashion and media worlds. Thomson-Jonville, a law graduate turned creative force, has seamlessly brought her editorial expertise and holistic vision to Vogue France, debuting her first issue, La Renaissance du Chic, to acclaim. Meanwhile, Hazan, with her forward-thinking approach to media, is poised to usher in a new era for GQ France.
The cocktail party, suffused with the energy of Paris and the promise of couture to come, marked an auspicious beginning for both women—and a thrilling new chapter for Vogue and GQ in France.
