In ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’, the ties steal the scene

It feels like the last year has been nothing but a build-up to this one pop culture moment that has finally arrived: the release of The Devil Wears Prada 2. Fans of the original film that released 20 years ago have been inundated with imagery of cast members Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, and Simone Ashley ever since filming on the streets of New York started last year. They’ve analysed the looks by costume designer Molly Rogers in depth, name-checking the brands and catching callbacks to the first film, and now that wait has finally been rewarded.

Set 20 years after the first film, TDWP2 sees the characters Miranda, Andy, and Nigel face a new kind of publishing industry. Just like in the real world, the staff at Runway magazine are dealing with budget cuts, shrinking audiences, and tech-bros who want to use fashion for legitimacy. There’s a not-so-new hire on the team—Andy Sachs (Hathaway), an award-winning journalist who writes about the Federal Reserve banking system but who is returning as features editor after being sacked from her job at a more ‘serious’ publication. But although she’s been away for two decades, Andy has retained a few lessons from her Runway mentors. She’s built up an impressive wardrobe of thrifted finds (at one point she informs Nigel that she’s wearing a Margiela jacket) and though she’s chucked her old Chanel pieces (shock and horror!), she’s not averse to borrowing things from the fashion closet when it’s required.

Rogers, who also worked on the original The Devil Wears Prada with iconic costume stylist Patricia Fields, told Harper’s Bazaar: “I reminded Annie [Hathaway] and the director that Annie Hall was the touchstone for the first fashion in the first movie.” That meant a reference board filled with images of Diane Keaton in her shrunken waistcoats, oversized ties, and menswear trousers from the 1997 Woody Allen film. Rogers, though, went even further, digging into images of old-fashioned newsrooms, a nod to Andy’s love for journalism, “where guys wore waistcoats and had their ties askew and sleeves rolled up”.

The result is a wardrobe filled with androgynous tailoring, or cheeky references to it in a distinctly feminine form, what Rogers describes as “feminine menswear”. Like an archival Jean Paul Gaultier pinstripe suit with a vest. Or a Giorgio Armani bodysuit worn with a sparkly oversized tie. Accompanying her through much of the film was a vintage Coach messenger bag—so on-trend given our current obsession with vintage Coach but also practical and roomy enough for a laptop.

Another accessory that appeared on repeat in Andy’s wardrobe was a tie. A skinny leather version worn with an Ulla Johnson jumpsuit. Or two sparkly trompe l’oeil tie-shaped straps on an Armani Privé jumpsuit that Andy wears while trying to rescue her magazine in Milan. While women wearing ties is nothing new, it’s still an accessory that signifies power and presence. And Andy is now a senior editor, comfortable with bending dress codes to make fashion her own.

The other cast members also lean into the tie moment. In one scene, Miranda’s new assistant, Amari (Simone Ashley), stalks the office in a Thom Browne skirt suit with a matching checked tie, while in another scene she wears a suit whose entire bodice is wrapped with ties, a look she revealed was made by the costume department. “Amari’s fashion says she’s there to get the job done,” said Ashley in a promotional video for the film. After all, as Oscar Wilde famously said: “A well-tied tie is the first serious step in life.”

Whether you end up enjoying the film or not (reviews are currently divided), you can still appreciate the fashion. And personally, as a fashion journalist who still works at a publication, the film struck a sweet, sentimental note, an homage to what some say is a dying art. If only the rest of us had a tie-wearing superhero to save our jobs.