Twenty years ago, the author Lauren Weisberger attended the premiere of The Devil Wears Prada in New York with her boyfriend, Mike, whom she had been dating for only three months.
Two weeks ago, the woman who wrote the global bestseller on which the film was based took fellow writer Mike – now her husband – and their two teenage children to the glittering launch of the film’s sequel.
© Getty Images for 20th Century St“For the first premiere, I said to Mike: ‘This is way too early for you to be meeting my entire family and every single person in my work life. But I would really like for you to come,’” Lauren tells us in this exclusive interview.
“Thankfully, we ended up getting married, and it felt wild to bring our two beautiful teenagers with us this time around.”
A full circle moment
Lauren was previously an assistant to Dame Anna Wintour – the inspiration for the book, which tells the story of working for a monstrous magazine editor – and, fittingly, her daughter attended the premiere carrying a Prada bag that was given to Lauren by her former boss while she was working at Vogue.
“I thought it might be perfect for her. That was a real full-circle moment for me,” she says.
Watching Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt bring to life the characters she created feels “surreal” to the author, whose other popular books include Chasing Harry Winston and When Life Gives You Lululemons.
"It's amazing to see it all come together"
“It’s not something I take for granted, but more than that, it's not something that ever feels normal,” she says. “I created the characters in the novel and then [the actresses] gave them their voices, their faces and their characteristics. It’s amazing to see it all come together.”
Lauren says she “never imagined” the phenomenon she would create when she was writing her debut novel, published in 2003. “There was no masterplan or thought when I wrote the book,” she says. “What has happened has been incredible.”
Although she published a sequel, Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns, in 2013, that story is not the basis for the new film – and this, she admits, took some pressure off her. “For the record, I think the new movie is terrific. But I created this world, and if [the sequel] ended up being a horrible disaster, it’s not my fault.”
Never say never
Will she write a third book in the series? “I don't know. I guess never say never,” she says, before revealing that she will publish a new novel next year. She adds: “I am really excited about this one. It's got an aspect of celebrity in it, in terms of how it could potentially ruin your life.”
Why does she think The Devil Wears Prada, which has also spawned a hit West End show starring Vanessa Williams and several popular catchphrases, including “That’s all” and “Gird your loins”, still resonates today?
“The themes we talk about – that fish-out-of-water feeling, and having dreams about what you want your life to look like and then wondering if it's what you wanted – is a universal feeling,” she says. “I think that's timeless.
