Anna Wintour becomes a dame as Victoria Beckham gets OBE

American Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour is made a dame and ex-Spice Girl turned fashion designer Victoria Beckham receives an OBE in Britian's New Year Honours List.

Among the more-than-1,000 people honoured, the powerful editor has been made a dame for services to fashion and journalism. She said she "was very touched to be honoured by a country I care about so deeply".

She has been at the helm of US Vogue since 1988, having previously edited British Vogue for three years. Despite the nickname 'Nuclear Wintour' and being seen as the model for the editor in The Devil Wears Prada, she is widely respected as a champion of the fashion industry and of young designers.

She was also extremely influential in driving the trend for using celebrities on magazine covers.

Dame Anna started her career in fashion aged 15 when she got her first job at the Biba boutique in London.

Meanwhile Beckham, who rose to fame in the 1990s girl band the Spice Girls and is married to former England footballer David Beckham, launched her first fashion label in 2006.

She will receive her Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) award 13 years after her husband and at a time when her label has been threatened with closure afer failing to file accounts on time.

Beckham was also criticised in British tabloid newspapers for telling her family she would be receiving an OBE before the official announcement. The news leaked out and was widely reported in the UK press.