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Vanity Fair's long-running editor-in-chief, Graydon Carter, will be leaving the publication in December.

He will still oversee the 2018 edition of the Hollywood Issue, one of the magazine's flagship annual numbers.

As the head of one of the most recognisable publications in the world, Carter is a titan of journalism.

Throughout his tenure, the magazine published a mix of revealing celebrity interviews and award-winning investigative stories.

"I've loved every moment of my time here and I've pretty much accomplished everything I've ever wanted to do," he said in a statement.

"I'm now eager to try out this 'third act' thing that my contemporaries have been telling me about, and I figure I'd better get a jump on it."

During his time at the publication, Carter became somewhat of a celebrity himself as host of an annual Oscar party for the very top of Hollywood's A-list and a mover and shaker on New York's social scene.

Before coming to Vanity Fair, the Canadian man from Trenton, Ontario, co-founded the gossip magazine Spy and was editor of the New York Observer.