Beatrix Molineux Miller, CBE (29 June 1923 – 21 February 2014) was a British fashion and cultural magazine editor. She was editor of Queen from 1958 to 1964, and editor of British Vogue from 1964 to 1985.
Beatrix Miller | |
|---|---|
| Born | Beatrix Molineux Miller 29 June 1923 |
| Died | 21 February 2014 (aged 90) |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Miss Miller; Bea |
| Alma mater | University of Paris |
| Occupation | Magazine editor |
| Title | Editor of British Vogue |
| Term | 1964–1985 |
| Predecessor | Ailsa Garland |
| Successor | Anna Wintour |
| Awards | Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1986) |
Early life
editMiller was born on 29 June 1923.[1] Her father was a doctor and her mother was a nurse; they had met on the Western Front during World War I.[2] She was brought up in Rudgwick, Sussex, England.[3] At the age of 15, she was evacuated to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, where she lived with an uncle and aunt for the duration of World War II.[4] She was educated to the age of 17 by tutors and later studied for six months at the University of Paris.[1][3]
Career
editMiller began her career as a secretary. After the war, she worked with MI6 in Germany,[3] and at the Nuremberg Trials.[2][5] She rarely spoke about those two years of her life.[2][4]
She began her journalistic career as a secretary for The Queen, a British society magazine.[1] She also wrote features for the magazine,[4] and ended her period there as features editor.[1] In 1956, she moved to New York City, where she joined the American edition of Vogue as a copywriter.[3] In 1958, The Queen was bought by Jocelyn Stevens and Miller was invited to return to the magazine as editor.[4] She changed the renamed Queen into a magazine for young women rather than one aimed at the older, traditional socialite.[1][2]
In 1964, she became editor of the British edition of Vogue.[1] Her final issue of the magazine was the largest ever at 470 pages.[2] Under her editorship, the magazine had become "the glossy bible to high-fashion".[1] She retired in 1984.[4] In 1966, she chose Donyale Luna for the March 1966 cover of British vogue, the first African-American to be on the cover of Vogue.[6]
Later life
editAfter her retirement, Miller, Terence Conran and Jean Muir set up a think tank to serve as a link between the government and the fashion industry.[1] She also served as a member of the council of the Royal College of Art, a postgraduate institution in London specialising in art and design.[2]
In retirement she lived in a cottage in Wiltshire.[3] She had planned to write a memoir titled Life After a Fashion or Life to the Letter but never completed it.[3][4]
She died on 21 February 2014.[3]
Personal life
editMiller never married nor had any children.[2] Any relationships she did have were kept secret.[4] She was known as Miss Miller by members of staff at Queen and Vogue, and as Bea by those close to her.[3]
Honours
editIn the 1985 New Year Honours, Miller was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in recognition of her service as editor of British Vogue.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h "Beatrix Miller – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 23 February 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Beatrix Miller". The Times. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Hamilton, Adrian (26 February 2014). "Beatrix Miller: 'Vogue' editor whose own talents, and her nurturing of others', helped set the tone for the Swinging Sixties". The Independent. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g Buck, Joan Juliet (25 February 2014). "Beatrix Miller obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
- ^ Devlin, Polly. "Remembering Beatrix Miller, Legendary Editor of British Vogue". Vogue. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
- ^ "The First Black Supermodel, Whom History Forgot". www.thecut.com. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ "No. 50361". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1985. pp. 7–8.