‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ puts a spotlight on Italy’s fashion capital
- Last updated: April 27, 2026 | 09:17
Prada may have a title role in “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” which premiered in Italy’s fashion capital on Thursday, but fashion at large gets a spotlight and Milan a supporting role. The film evokes Prada without being about the storied fashion house that has become synonymous with Milan.
In homage, Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour both wear Prada on a current Vogue cover celebrating the film about a demanding fashion editor. But when part of the movie was shot in Milan during fashion week last September, a Dolce & Gabbana runway show, not Prada, was the backdrop for a scene featuring Streep and Stanley Tucci. “‘When you think of Prada, when you think of the Prada brand, you also think of Milan. This is obviously good for the fashion system,’’ said Tommaso Sacchi, Milan’s counselor for culture. “It’s a film that is good for the city.’’
That enthusiasm is spilling over to a pop-up at Milan’s main department store, where aficionados of the film and fashionistas have flocked to take selfies at a replica of fictitious fashion editor Miranda Priestly’s desk and against the backdrop of a faux Runway magazine mock-up cover. VIPs attending the film’s Italian premiere on Thursday, ahead of its global release next week, will attend a cocktail in the space. The Rinascente CEO, Mariella Elia, said the response to the pop-up — which is announced by giant statues of the iconic red pumps outside the store — shows that people have “a desire for lightness.”
“It’s not just about buying, it’s really about reviving what fashion represents ... a desire to have a stylish flair once again, a desire for joy, too - perhaps in contrast with the current economic and international moment that humanity is experiencing,’’ Elia said.
On a recent day, the space filled with people browsing limited edition T-shirts with famous phrases from the first film like, “Is there some reason my coffee isn’t here?”
Valentina Cattivelli, a professor, said she wasn’t trying to channel Priestly as she sat behind the replica of her desk. It included an inbox full of other lines from the original film, including Priestly’s dismissive, “That’s all.’’ “No, I’m not so cruel in my daily life, but I appreciate her professional style and also her fashion and the taste for fashion. But not her sarcasm or cruelty, no,” Cattivelli said.
The Prada brand was founded a few steps away, in the stately Vittorio Emanuele II Gallery, by Miuccia Prada’s grandfather. The shopping arcade today is anchored by two Prada flagship stores.
Miuccia Prada transformed the brand into a fashion juggernaut, turning the infamous ugly chic aesthetic into must-have or must-emulate looks and accessories that bring intellectual heft to runway fashion — a theme of the original movie, which offered a peek beyond fashion-world frivolity.
“There is a close relationship between the ‘Devil Wears Prada’ franchise and Prada, because by evoking Prada from the very title, it evokes a fashion that makes you dream, a fashion that makes you feel elegant, a fashion that makes you feel good, a fashion that gives you an allure,’’ said Annarita Briganti, a fashion journalist who wrote a book about Prada for Rizzoli’s Made in Italy editions.
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” brings back the flash and fashion of the original film but also offers insight into a transformed media landscape, its stars and makers said at the movie’s European premiere in London on Wednesday. The sequel comes two decades after “The Devil Wears Prada”, with filmmaker David Frankel returning to direct from a screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna. It sees Andy Sachs, played by Anne Hathaway, getting laid off from her investigative journalism job and reuniting with her boss from 20 years ago, the feared fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly, portrayed by Meryl Streep.
Priestly’s “Runway” is also grappling with challenges presented by the digital age and the decline of print media. “It sort of underwrites all the flash and fun and music and the uncertainty of this current moment,” said Streep on the red carpet. “The media landscape, but in every form of business, life, music, art, movies, pick a thing, we’re all being undermined. That’s where the movie kind of starts and it goes from there to see what these characters do with that new landscape.” Unlike the first film, which was based on Lauren Weisberger’s novel of the same name, the sequel features an original storyline. “Everybody’s facing challenges, economic challenges. And so it felt like thematically it’d be something that would interest people,” said McKenna.
The writing came with huge pressure, McKenna said, but she sought to have fun while finding the characters “the way you would an old friend”. Reuniting with much of the original team was “magic”, said Hathaway, who had few conditions for reprising her role. “I just said that I thought Andy hadn’t started the family portion of her life, if that ever happened for her. That was my one condition,” she said, adding she was open to everything else — unlike Streep, who joked her many stipulations included “no heels over four inches”.
Stanley Tucci also returns as Priestly’s devoted right-hand man Nigel, while her overworked assistant Emily (Emily Blunt) has moved up to a powerful position in the fashion industry. Lucy Liu, Kenneth Branagh and Simone Ashley are among new cast members. Celebrity cameos in the sequel, which was shot in New York and Milan, include pop star Lady Gaga and fashion designer Donatella Versace. “The Devil Wears Prada 2” begins its global theatrical rollout on April 29.
Agencies