It's common knowledge that the coveted, cutthroat magazine depicted in the novel "The Devil Wears Prada" is a thinly veiled Vogue, where author Lauren Weisberger briefly worked as an assistant to longtime editor Anna Wintour. The 2006 film adaptation of Weisberger's book went on to gross $326 million worldwide largely because of its voyeuristic framing: Audiences could indulge in the excess and elitism of a widely worshiped style bible without actually reporting to Miranda Priestly, who plays a Wintour-esque character and degrades employees with a mere pointed look.
In fact, the movie made working under Meryl Streep's ice-cold editor seem simultaneously agonizing and alluring; watching Anne Hathaway's Andy suffer in that hellish assistantship was only slightly less satisfying than seeing her succeed. "If Weisberger's novel focuses obsessively on every sharp word and withering glance her evil dragon-lady boss ever threw her way, the movie lets us in on what keeps her there," wrote Carina Chocano in the L.A. Times' review of the movie.
A lot has changed in the years since "Prada'' premiered: Legacy magazines have stopped printing issues, social media has worn down the fashion industry's gatekeeping, abusive bosses are regularly exposed and ousted, and even top editors wear ugly sneakers to work. Producers of a Broadway-bound musical "Prada" promised to present "an updated version of the much-loved tale … to reflect the cultural and societal changes that have [since] redefined the fashion world."
