There are few cultural moments as self-aware as Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour sharing a magazine cover. Vogue’s May edition features the pair together for the first time — a shoot that leans fully into the open secret at the heart of The Devil Wears Prada: that Miranda Priestly was always, at least in part, inspired by the woman sitting right beside her.
The cover arrives ahead of The Devil Wears Prada 2, which hits screens on 1 May — twenty years after the original film became a cultural touchstone for anyone who has ever worked in fashion, media or any industry with a formidable woman at the top.
View this post on Instagram
What they had to say
The accompanying interview, conducted by filmmaker Greta Gerwig, gave both women space to reflect on what twenty years has meant — for the industry, for the characters and for the world those characters inhabit.
Streep spoke about what drew her back to Miranda now, given how much has shifted since the original. “Now that everything’s disintegrating, now that these institutions are being undermined or exploded — I wondered what they were going to do,” she said, suggesting the sequel had found something true about where the industry currently stands.
Wintour, characteristically, was more measured and more optimistic. “So much has changed. But I like to think we’re evolving rather than disintegrating,” she said. “We are still here. We’re all doing our jobs — in different ways and across multiple platforms instead of just one, but how wonderful is that? We’re reaching far more people.”
The shoot itself
Behind-the-scenes footage from the Vogue shoot shows a side of both women that rarely makes it into public view — playful, at ease, and apparently very much in on the joke. The visual parallel between Streep’s performance and Wintour’s real-life presence has always been one of popular culture’s most delicious open secrets, and this cover makes it official in the most elegant way possible.
View this post on Instagram
The Devil Wears Prada 2 releases on 1 May.
ALSO SEE:
Anna Wintour steps down as American Vogue editor-in-chief after 37 years of fashion leadership
Featured Image: Instagram | voguemagazine
