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September Issue
Another late post - a blog post assignment from last November
Through hazy memories, I recall my first time flipping through Vogue’s glossy, perfumed pages and be amazed at the pretty pictures of an utterly gorgeous long-legged blonde in a seven-page spread showcasing various garments to flatter every body type there ever was—which is ludicrous, obviously, (she represented none but one—model type, on whom clothes can be nothing but perfect) but that was the moment I stumbled into this continuous love affair with fashion. I still have that 2002 issue, alongside others I collected over the years (my dad has been pushing me to declutter, yet I have no heart to throw those away).
But those who are not a devoted reader of the sartorial ‘bible’, might have had their first glimpse of the dog-eat-dog world that is the fashion industry through the Devil’s Wear Prada, either the eponymous novel or the film-adaptation, in which a wide-eyed fresh grad got her world turned upside down by the most powerful woman in America, the ‘editrix’ of the Runway Magazine. Hmmm, sounds familiar.
Indeed, Miranda Priestley's character in the roman à clef of Lauren Weinsberger’s life—a perfect boss-from-hell reincarnated—was based NOT so loosely on Anna Wintour, by the real-life assistant-turned-author. Well, she might carry her own coffee and have more penchant for Chanel suits rather than Hermes scarves, but Wintour still strikes fear within her staff weaponed by her ever-ready cutting remarks. The 2009 documentary September Issue attempts to humanize ‘nuclear Wintour’, as she was mockingly known—quite the hopeless endeavor.
It chronicles Anna Wintour and her larger-than-life entourage in completing the September issue 2007, which at 840 pages is the single largest magazine issue ever published—showing an inner working of the world’s most significant fashion magazine, where tension is high and commerce clashes with creativity, celebrity collides with art. Anna Wintour flits from scene to scene, person to person, with a perpetual sour expression on her face; and though several candid moments are ‘staged’—her staring wide-eyed at the camera while talking almost self-deprecatingly—we still can’t see what is going on behind her trademark bangs.
Although she doesn’t come off necessarily as evil as what her alter ego portrayed, Wintour is far from cuddly. Well, she doesn’t need to. When every sartorial comment is perceived as a doctrine, designers fall over themselves trying to please her or cower in fear at her dissatisfaction—even Stefano Pilatti is not immune to her dismal ‘hmm’ and the thinly disguised contempt at the quirks of her lips (note to designers : when she gives you the impression of an eye-roll even when she doesn’t—that means trouble; also, grey is NOT a color). Behind those armor-like Jackie O’ sunglasses she judges and whatever she decrees the fashion world bows down to.
If fashion is a church, Anna Wintour is not merely the high-priestess—she is the POPE.
Her counterweight appears in Vogue’s creative director, Grace Coddington. Wintour’s aloof and mysterious persona is juxtaposed with Coddington’s warmth and passion. She of the famous ginger hair and shapeless black dress, is the artist behind Vogue’s most beautiful and cinematic editorials—my favorite will always be the Alice in Wonderland and the Sleeping Beauty spreads (yep, I have a thing for fairy-tales). The only one who dares to, Coddington battles Wintour multiple times in the movie, with a win at the end.
I found a strange rivalry-in-comradery in both women. Both venture into the fashion industry through modeling before starting at the American Vogue on the same day. Though often meeting at a standpoint, they regard each other in obvious respect and affection, albeit begrudgingly, from working side by side for more than twenty years bringing the magazine to its glory today.
Personally, I fell for Grace’s charm over Anna’s beauty-obsessed (on Sienna Miller’s cover photo—to go with the teeth or not to go with the teeth, that is the question) attitude. I shivered in excitement when she rebelliously told the art director to not Photoshop the cameraman’s belly, going against Wintour’s wishes. She feeds models strawberry pies and helps them into their shoes—she probably is the last stylist who does. Truly, how can you not love her?
All in all, September Issue is an immensely entertaining peek to the fashion world and its whirlwind glam and cram. With the Vogue entourage jet-setting across the globe, you can feast your eyes on the most gorgeous travelogue ever. Fashion eye-candy are scattered throughout the movie in forms of photoshoots and runway shows. Fashion insiders or not, anyone will eat up this visually pleasing movie with the most refreshing soundtracks in documentary yet.
Honorable mentions :
Andre Leon Talley – the extremely flamboyant editor with trademark phrases (clinical!) and tent-like fashion proves that you can indeed wear too much Louis Vuitton—and I am still quite unclear at what the gentleman does for the magazine, aside from appearing at the front-rows and blurting out almost-indecipherable comments now and then.
Thakoon – the Thai designer might be dwarfed in heights but not in talent. His collection at GAP was a sold-out, his dress is documented in history as the First Lady’s Inauguration dress, and he quickly becomes New York’s resident fashion darling.
Sienna Miller – first, her hair. Then, her teeth. She was plagued by too many problem for Vogue to solve. Sigh.
