Anna Wintour said she found the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada "a fair shot," calling its depiction of the fearsome magazine editor a caricature but describing the movie as "highly enjoyable." The remark was made during an appearance with New Yorker editor David Remnick on the Radio Hour podcast, days after reports that filming is underway on a sequel that will again feature Meryl Streep.
Wintour, who led Vogue for 37 years, said the film had "a lot of humor" and "a lot of wit," and praised the cast. She recalled attending the original premiere "wearing Prada, completely having no idea what the film was going to be about," and said members of the fashion industry were concerned the picture might cast her in a harsh light. She agreed with Remnick’s characterization that the portrayal was "cartoonish," but added that she thought it was "a fair shot."
The movie, adapted from a novel by Lauren Weisberger, who previously worked as a personal assistant at Vogue, centered on an editorial team at the fictional Runway magazine. The 2006 film starred Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestley, Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs and Emily Blunt as Emily Charlton. Wintour acknowledged a conversation with designer Miuccia Prada in which she said the film would likely be good for the high-end label, but she did not detail Prada’s response.
Wintour has long been linked in public discussion to Priestley, and she has previously declined to state explicitly whether she saw herself in the character. At a West End performance of the musical adaptation last year, she told the BBC that any similarities between her and the fictional editor were for audiences and colleagues to judge. The musical has featured performers including Vanessa Williams.
Earlier this year Condé Nast announced that Wintour would step down as Vogue’s editor-in-chief after nearly four decades at the magazine. Chloe Malle, formerly head of Vogue.com and a member of the publication’s editorial team since 2011, was named to succeed her as head of editorial content. Wintour will retain the roles of Condé Nast’s global chief content officer and global editorial director at Vogue; the new head of editorial content will report to her.
Malle, a Brown University graduate who co-hosts the Vogue podcast The Run-Through and has overseen cover interviews and profiles for the magazine, has been mentioned alongside other potential internal candidates in coverage of the leadership transition. As chief content officer, Wintour continues to oversee Condé Nast brands globally, including Wired, Vanity Fair, GQ and others.
The Devil Wears Prada has remained part of conversations about fashion, media and workplace culture since its release, and the announced sequel, which reports say will reunite principal cast members, has renewed interest in the film’s portrayal of magazine life. Wintour’s recent comments represent one of the clearest public appraisals she has given of the film that many long tied to her tenure at Vogue.