Three former Vogue employees have anonymously shared their experiences of working as assistants to Anna Wintour, the 76-year-old Global Editorial Director of Vogue. The women revealed how much of The Devil Wears Prada was inspired by Anna, and how working for her was 'very much like in The Devil Wears Prada'.
Three former Vogue employees have anonymously revealed what it was like being Anna Wintour's assistant at the fashion bible. The 76-year-old 'can sense fear', according to the women who spoke to Amy Odell, a journalist and biographer.
The women shared how much of The Devil Wears Prada was inspired by the sunglasses-clad magazine editor, who currently serves as the Global Editorial Director of Vogue. It has long been speculated that Anna inspired Meryl Streep's fictional fashion editor character, Miranda Priestly, in the 2006 movie, because it was based on a novel written by one of Anna's former assistants, Lauren Weisberger.
Working for Anna was 'very much like in The Devil Wears Prada', one assistant told Amy in an article published on the former Cosmopolitan editor's Substack, Back Row. From judging their outfits to the unspoken rule that you 'could not ask Anna for clarification or help', the three ex-assistants broke down their 'highly ritualised' jobs at Vogue HQ in New York.
The ex-Vogue staffers said being Anna's assistant meant receiving a 'constant' stream of emails 'day and night' with requests like 'Get me on the phone with this person,' 'I need to see that person,' or simply 'Coffee please'. In her emails on the weekend, Anna would ask them to remind her to do 'various tasks the following week' or send them urgent errands to be completed.
This could be 'finding hard copies of old newspaper articles or fetching a book left in the Vogue offices that she needed to have in London immediately,' wrote Amy, adding that some felt these requests were Anna's way of 'hazing' new assistants. Others clarified her behaviour 'is not about testing people' but that 'her needs dominated their lives'. The Daily Mail has reached out to Conde Nast for comment.
According to Amy's book, Anna: The Biography, Vogue's former editor-in-chief always had two or three assistants, and each one was 'responsible for their own set of things'. Just like in the movie, her first assistant - portrayed by Emily Blunt - is responsible for her schedule while the second assistant 'liaised with the caretakers and chefs at her homes in Manhattan and Long Island, coordinated her film screenings and took care of her dogs'.
When a new second assistant started, she was given a 21-page manual containing specific information on everything from managing Anna's expenses to details on maintaining her homes. It was the third assistant's job to run errands and alternated 'being on call on weekends' with the second assistant. The book was published in 2022 and revealed how Anna's assistants were expected to reach the office between 7 and 7.30am every morning.
The second assistant was expected to meet Anna with her breakfast order - a whole-milk Starbucks latte and blueberry muffin - before accompanying her upstairs. 'If her coffee wasn't there when she arrived, Anna would see
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