Anna Wintour … Retiring?

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa. Seriously. We know everyone's been talking about the end of media and fashion magazines as we know it, but Page Six is now reporting the the editrix of all editrixes, Anna Wintour, may be considering ... that's right ... retirement. According to "an insider": "She's thinking of retiring. She feels she's done it all and had enough. She has been putting out feelers to intimate friends recommending a possible replacement to S.I. Newhouse." Granted, a rep apparently followed with "this is completely unfounded," but folks have been quick to pick up on the news. It's true that her pet project, Men's Vogue, recently Men's Vogue scaled back to a humiliating twice-a-year, Fashion Rocks is "on hiatus for 2009" (read: cancelled), the publication's recent covers have gotten a pretty public smackdown, and their ad pages decline nearly hit double digits this year. It's been pretty bad news overall for the publishing industry for the past couple of months, but this could really cement the sea change. After 20 years at the helm of the greatest fashion glossy in the land, her departure would really signal the end of the publishing (and, we'll say it, fashion) world as we all know it.