Strutting down the runway after 20 years, Meryl Streep returns with Anne

Hathaway for the acclaimed fashion movie, “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” which released on May 1.

At the end of “The Devil Wears Prada,” Andy Sachs (Hathaway), an aspiring journalist, left her job as a junior assistant to Miranda Priestly (Streep), the iconic and ruthless editor-in-chief for the fictional magazine

Runway because of a toxic work environment.

Now, two decades later, Andy returns to a changing fashion world as a confident potential editor for the same magazine.

Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt) now stands as a high-powered executive at a luxury advertising firm. The dynamic between the former assistant and the editor in chief has changed to a tense rivalry, where Emily is now Miranda’s equal, if not superior.

But she desperately needs the advertising dollars controlled by Emily’s new luxury group. In the official trailer, Andy reunites with Miranda, but it appears that the editor in chief has forgotten all about her former assistant.

She is reminded by her art director Nigel (Stanley Tucci) that Andy was one of the “Emilys.” In reality, there was only one true Emily, who was Miranda’s senior assistant, but the chief decided to ironically nickname Andy an Emily as well.

The higher-ups made this decision as a strategic power move, establishing a hierarchy. Three years before the first movie came out, “The Devil Wears Prada” was just a book written by Lauren Weisberger.

When the book was released, industry insiders noted that Vogue editor Anna Wintour’s rumored “forgetfulness” of her assistant Lauren Weisberger wasn’t just a lapse in memory, but a statement that unless you are a “power player,” you don’t exist in her world. Miranda calling Andy “Emily” wasn’t a joke either. It represents how powerful figures in fashion historically viewed their staff as interchangeable tools rather than individuals.

While the first movie was focused on Andy’s story, the trailer suggests that the second movie focuses on Miranda at the end of her career. As seen in the trailer, Miranda summons Andy back to help navigate a crisis at Runway when her magazine seems to fall out of favor in the industry.
She is forced to humble herself and reach out to her former assistant, who now has the upper hand financially.

It can be inferred from the trailer that Miranda has forgotten everything about the first movie because through her character development, it was all beneath her pride and status. Her development is based on vulnerability, as her persona is necessary to survive in a male-dominated industry.

Twenty years ago, Andy and Emily were pawns in Miranda’s game. Now, they hold the keys to her survival. As the line between digital and traditional influence blurs, the sequel poses a final question: In a world where the assistants have become the icons, does the Devil still wear Prada?