Anna Wintour, it’s no exaggeration to say, is a mythic, mysterious figure. The editor of Vogue magazine is the most powerful person in fashion in America — if not the world. But the steely gaze she almost invariably displays under her pageboy haircut seems impenetrable. That might be why millions of curious people read the book or watched the film “The Devil Wears Prada” — the gossipy roman a clef was written by one of the editor’s former assistants.
Now, however, we finally have a glimpse at the real woman behind the omnipresent sunglasses — at work, at home and reflecting quite openly on both. “The September Issue” is a compelling documentary that traces the creation of Vogue’s September 2007 edition, at 840 pages and nearly 5 pounds the largest issue of a monthly magazine ever published.
So how did filmmaker R.J. Cutler manage to get such access to a woman not known for making many media appearances?
“I really just asked,” said Mr. Cutler, in town for the Silverdocs film festival in June. “She’s never done anything like I did with her, ever ever ever.”
Miss Wintour might have been given the nickname “Nuclear Wintour” by former colleagues, but she shows a surprisingly softer side in Mr. Cutler’s fascinating film. This powerful woman is feared by many but finds her own family doesn’t respect what she does. Her siblings, including brother Patrick, the political editor of the Guardian, seem to find the fashion industry frivolous. Her own daughter Katherine outright says this while admitting she’ll never fulfill her mother’s wish of following in the editor’s footsteps.
“It feels so human to me and so relatable,” Mr. Cutler says. “Of course the person who everyone bows down to wonders if those she cares most about take her seriously. What’s more revealing of the way we all suffer?”
The director, who made his name with “The War Room,” a documentary about Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, continues: “Real life is so pure in its poetic ironies. That’s why making these movies is such a deeply satisfying thing to do. It’s hard to get to that point in people’s lives where they’re so comfortable with you, they trust you enough to show you those ironies. When you get there, you get to tell these awesome stories and you know what people mean when they say you can’t write this stuff.”
His film isn’t just a portrait of a person; it’s the ultimate insider’s look into an industry Miss Wintour helped revolutionize. She cemented the relationship between fashion and celebrity culture by replacing models with movie stars on Vogue covers. She also democratized fashion by mixing high with low and encouraging big-name designers to do lower-priced lines, which many now do for places such as Target and H&M. Now Sharon Stone wears the Gap to the Oscars, and teenage girls walk around with Gucci handbags.
Mr. Cutler says the dichotomies are what attracted him.
“Fashion is frivolous, and it’s deadly serious,” he says. “It’s all about indulgence and vanity, but it’s a $300 billion global industry. Who needs it? Everyone needs it. Who cares? Everyone cares. Only a certain kind of person even thinks about it. Everybody thinks about it every day.”
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