Vogue's new cover girl

French Vogue crowned a new style queen yesterday, naming former fashion director Emanuelle Alt as its editor-in-chief.

The promotion follows editor Carine Roitfeld's resignation last month, after nine years at the helm.

Alt has worked at the magazine – often seen as the most experimental and extreme of the fashion franchise – for over a decade. The front-row reshuffle will not surprise those familiar with her discreet influence. She has long been a quiet acolyte of Roitfeld's, something of an unknown in a famously flamboyant industry.

"Emanuelle knows [French Vogue] inside out," said Xavier Romatet, president of Condé Nast France. I have total confidence in her."