The September Issue

Anna Wintour. The name may send shivers down many a spine, however our fascination with fashion’s Ice Queen is as strong as ever. Despite being an insight into the life of the inspiration for ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, this film’s real star for me had to be the Creative Director, Grace Coddington. Her refreshing attitude, original creativity and willingness to speak her mind made her magnetic to watch.

There is some very memorable footage of both, such as Anna’s response to her daughter declaring she doesn’t want anything to do with the magazine, preferring a career in law. A smug ‘We’ll see’ gave insight into this formidable character and her persistence to get what she wants even when out of the office and closer to home. Grace’s original ideas were totally inspiring. There’s a wonderful scene on a shoot photographing a model jumping in the air. On the spur of the moment Grace suggests that the camera man filming the documentary jumps also. The photos are later photo shopped into one with both the model and photographer facing each other mid- air.

We caught a glimpse of Anna and Grace’s differences when Grace was totally opposing Anna’s request to photo shop the camera man’s stomach to make him more svelte and eye pleasing. I have to say that Grace’s human touch in a mad world seeking perfection was a joy to see.  Her tantrums about Anna disregarding her shots were also pretty great! Anna is a remarkable force though and one does wonder how anybody else could run the world’s greatest fashion magazine as efficiently and expertly as she.

The film pretty much summed up the necessary balance between head and heart, dreams and reality, the suits and the creatives all of which are omnipresent in the Fashion business. So which camp are you an Anna or a Grace?