Sartorial Onscreen

If you’re a fashion girlie, “The Devil Wears Prada 2” was likely your most anticipated film of the summer. It was certainly mine. But if I’m being honest, it mostly ended up making me sad.

Viewed from a vacuum, the movie itself was fine. It was sharp and funny, and the costumes are just as glamorous as they were in the original 2006 film. But movies don’t exist in a vacuum. They reflect the world in which they’re created, and this reflection wasn’t a flattering one.

“The Devil Wears Prada” was a scathing indictment of the fashion industry. It offered a peek behind the curtain that highlighted the exploitation of the countless people whose work is overshadowed by the industry titans at the top.

Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly (based on former “Vogue” Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour) is a complicated character, but she is still the villain. She’s clawed her way to the top and she doesn’t care whose back she has to step on in her killer Jacquemus heels. The sequel loses sight of that, making Miranda a more sympathetic character at the expense of the original film’s message.

It doesn’t hurt that, unlike the original, the sequel was created with Wintour’s stamp of approval. She spoke with Streep about how she would be portrayed, promoted the film on the cover of “Vogue” and even filmed a cameo that was later cut from the film. Wintour didn’t just approve of the sequel; she was an active participant in its marketing.

This corporate approval ended up stamped all over the film, to the point where it was distracting. I found myself writing this post in my head while sitting in the theater because the betrayal of the film’s original values was so striking.

Streep told “Vogue” that costuming for the original film was a struggle because designers wouldn’t give the production and clothes. Their fear of damaging their relationships with Wintour led them to boycott the film.

In 2026, however, the tide has turned. Fashion giants like Marc Jacobs and Donatella Versace make appearances in the film, alongside style icons like Law Roach and Winnie Harlow. The constant cameos are a grim reminder that, while the first film was an attack on the fashion industry, the sequel is a part of it.

At the end of the day, the highly anticipated sequel to one of the most iconic fashion films ever made is little more than a star-studded advertisement.

If you love high fashion and all that glitters, you’ll probably love “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” If you’re looking for a good time at the theater, you won’t be disappointed. But if you wanted another critique of the exploitative nature of the fashion industry? You might be out of luck.