The question of whether fashion really dresses like ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ has become more relevant than ever in 2026, as the sequel’s release and its sprawling press tour have once again blurred the line between film fantasy and industry reality. Nearly two decades after the original convinced a generation that knee-high Chanel boots, a cerulean sweater, and a job at Runway magazine were the height of aspiration, the franchise’s aesthetic of maximalist opulence has moved from satire to standard. Costume designer Molly Rogers, who took over from Patricia Field, built the sequel’s wardrobe around a fashion landscape that now mirrors the film’s heightened styling, where a handful of stylists and editors have become influencers with an equally extravagant approach to getting dressed. Chelsea Fairless, cohost of the “Every Outfit on Sex and the City” podcast, notes that there is now an assumption that a large part of the industry does dress like Law Roach or Eva Chen on a regular basis, and the film reinforces that perception.
In reality, most people working in fashion do not arrive at their desks in couture ball gowns or Armani Privé crystal-studded coats. The day-to-day of editorial assistants, showroom coordinators, and buyers is far more practical than Andy Sachs’s post-makeover montage of Chanel, Galliano, and Fendi. Yet the film’s influence is undeniable. The original’s “gopping” Chanel boots that retailed for $1,500 in 2006 now sell for over $4,000 on resale sites, and fashion fanatics treat them as relics. Old Navy even launched a capsule collection that includes a replica of the saggy cable knit sweater Miranda degrades in her famous cerulean monologue, sold for $49.99. When an industry encourages you to buy what it once made fun of, the joke has clearly become the uniform.
The 2026 press tour for ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ amplified that feedback loop. Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, and Emily Blunt turned every premiere into a runway moment that felt straight out of Miranda Priestly’s world. In Seoul, Hathaway surrendered to devil red in an oversized Balenciaga leather two-piece while Streep countered in all-black Celine corporate armor with a corset-style belt and cat-eye sunglasses. In Tokyo, Streep anchored herself in Chanel Métiers d’Art with gold CC buttons, while Hathaway wore Alessandro Michele’s Valentino couture. In London, Hathaway’s deconstructed Versace tuxedo-corset gown and Blunt’s custom crimson Balenciaga with over $1 million in Mikimoto jewels blurred character and couture completely. The looks were sharp, theatrical, and impossible to ignore, and they were styled by the same teams that dress real editors and stylists for actual galas.
But the sequel’s costumes also reflect fashion’s great casualization. Rogers dressed Andy Sachs as a stylish bohemian writer in chic denim, menswear vests, and a beat-up Coach briefcase, with a colorful Gabriela Hearst dress and Toteme pajama set for a Hamptons jaunt. Miranda herself is even seen wearing sneakers in one scene, a gasp-worthy departure from her original stilettos. There are nods to Gen Z’s love of resale, with a thrifted Margiela look mentioned prominently, and the cerulean sweater returns, this time owned by Andy. Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, and Tiffany & Co. make sizable appearances, yet brand integrations don’t hit you over the head the way you might expect from a much-anticipated fashion film follow-up.
So does fashion really dress like ‘The Devil Wears Prada’? The answer is yes and no. The average fashion workplace is not a parade of Dries Van Noten tassels and red Balenciaga ball gowns. Budgets, advertisers, and casualization have made the industry less bitchy and more wearable than the 2006 original. But the fantasy has bled into reality at the top. Red carpets, editorials, and the stylists and influencers who dominate Instagram have adopted the film’s maximalist language as their own. Law Roach’s “method dressing” and the theatricality of today’s premieres prove that the line between Runway magazine and real runway has never been thinner. Fashion doesn’t dress like ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ every day, but on the days that matter, it absolutely does, and it knows the world is watching.
