And bibs, tassels, and a sequel

The last time we saw Andy Sachs in 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada, she was giving a grateful nod to her former boss and editor of Runway, Miranda Priestly. Andy was thankful to the iconic ice-queen for several reasons: she was the catalyst that triggered Andy’s radical transformation from dowdy, unsure assistant to fashion forward, indispensable powerhouse; she forced Andy to look inward and make the difficult decision to forge a new path; and Miranda taught Andy that every choice in life is a tradeoff, including that of becoming an empowered and successful woman.

When The Devil Wears Prada catwalked onto the cinematic runway in 2006, it became an instant hit and introduced the world to cerulean blue and and the fact that we’re all just one stomach virus away from our goal weight. Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt were rocketed into the stratosphere of stardom and it paved the way for the brilliant Meryl Streep to garner yet another Oscar nomination. Today, some consider it a classic (it premiered twenty years ago, after all).

Which makes it all the more fun to plant yourself in a dark theater and check in with our favorite fashionista journalist Andy, her viperish nemesis Emily and the delightfully scathing (yet now surprisingly vulnerable) Miranda Priestly, who still reigns supreme as Runway’s editor in The Devil Wears Prada 2. 

A quick synopsis: Andy, now a serious, award-winning journalist, returns to Runway as content editor when she loses her job as a reporter for The New York Vanguard. Her task: to mitigate the damage done when Miranda goes viral for supporting a designer who uses sweatshops. There are the usual caustic Miranda comments that leave Andy feeling incompetent, even though she’s successful and living her dreams. Emily, of course has to come into play here; as a high-powered executive at Dior, she snaps with the same sumptuous bitchiness that kept us in a love/hate relationship with her in TDWP (really, only Em could come up with all those scorching one-liners). And dear Nigel, the unsung hero attached to Miranda’s hip in the first flick, is thankfully back. Stanley Tucci plays him with the same practical, yet protective, sweetness towards Andy that he displayed in the first go round.

Between the numerous surprising cameos (Lady Gaga? Donatella Versace? Marc Jacobs?) and stunning fashion, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is a fun, frothy excursion into today’s cultural milieu of viral content, corporate mergers and toxic social media.  Cheeky references to billionaires with their heads up their arses make for fun mockery, particularly in the character of Benji Barnes, a thinly-veiled Jeff Bezos, played by a facially-plumped up Justin Theroux.

Everything is at stake here for Runway in a virtual world where the threat of being cancelled looms large, and Miranda discovers when she is mercilessly ridiculed online.

It’s fascinating that when the TDWP came out in 2006, the world was on the verge of a radical, historical transformation with the advent of the smartphone (the Iphone debuted eighteen months after the premier of TDWP). The distinctive contrast is glaringly evident in the two movies: the TDWP seems almost quaint in comparison to the sequel, taking place in a time gone-by when flip phones were a novelty, print media was alive and thriving and the sound of constant pings and bings reverberating just wasn’t a thing. Heavy sigh. That’s all gone in TDWP2, where there are plenty of annoying buzzes and dings and people recording everything with their faces perpetually planted in their phones.

A deep dive into the first movie reveals that the big luxury brands refused to participate in TDWP for fear of reprisal by Anna Wintour, the former editor of Vogue who is, of course, the model for Miranda Priestly. Only one designer consented to be represented – Prada. The enormous and iconic success of TDWP changed all that for TDWP2. Luxury designers were lining up while salivating to be represented and cameo-worthy in 2.

And represented they are with fab fashion. We loved the montage of Andy’s fashion transformation in TDWP and that same creativity is at play in TDWP2 when the team cavorts and sashays in swoon-worthy garb in Rome. Overalls and bibs abound, with lots of sequins, sparkles and silk. Em wears gobs of Dior (naturally) and…that cape! The wardrobe is stunning, with a few laughable outfits interspersed (the industry wouldn’t be represented authentically without that!) The fashion alone is worth the ridiculous amount of cash you’ll cough up at the box office to see The Devil Wears Prada 2 in theaters. Well, that and the opportunity to catch up on our favorite snitches, bitches and femme heroes.