The September Issue

The September Issue is a superficial look into the making of the September 2007 issue of Vogue. Many of the shots consist of various photographers, art directors and members of the editorial staff behaving in a groveling and subservient way around editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. The one exception is stylist Grace Coddington, a confident and gifted woman who does superb creative work and isn't afraid to stand up for herself. Her work really is the backbone of the magazine. Once she leaves, Vogue is on a fast ride downhill. Wintour's insights, as she looks at and discusses potential fashion spreads, seem fairly prosaic. She must have gotten the job by game-playing and the usual machinations of the business world. Outside of standing back somewhat and letting Coddington do her work, I don't see what she contributes to the magazine except for making her staff feel compulsively insecure. I enjoyed the few scenes that show her with her twenty-something daughter, who wants to be a lawyer. She clearly has the ability to "get" to Wintour that no one else in the film does. Good for her. Wintour talks about her father and siblings, but neglects to mention her American mother, an interesting omission. Wintour is a lonely character, in a way. There's a revealing scene of her in the back of a town car clutching a Starbucks coffee and staring straight ahead. She's off in her own world most of the time.

As is to be expected, no one on the Vogue staff actually wears the outlandish clothing featured in the magazine. Wintour wears flattering silk dresses, Coddington dresses in various frumpy black outfits and the staff and photographers wear practical work clothes. The exception is Leon Talley, the only member of the staff who truly buys into the fashion myth. Since Wintour reveals so little of herself and the filmmaker is as deferential to her as the rest of her intimidated staff, ultimately "The September Issue" is an elegantly made film with no emotional heart.

I saw this documentary at the Galway Film Fleadh. The anticipation was high, and the screening was sold out; I'm happy to report that the audience wasn't disappointed. This doc details the run up to the printing of the titular September issue of American Vogue magazine, which an estimated one in eight American women purchase annually. The documentary style is fast-paced with out being breakneck, with one of the freshest soundtracks I've had the pleasure of hearing on a cinema sound system. (Ladytron, Ratatat, Cinematic Orchestra, Mark Ronson et al.) It focuses on mostly on the upper echelons of Vogue, namely inscrutable ice queen and inspiration for "The Devil Wears Prada", editor Anna Wintour. Creative director Grace Coddington brings some welcome levity during the more "fashion has no mercy, dahling!" moments. If you enjoyed Ugly Betty, The Devil Wears Prada, America's Next Top Model and Project Runway, you already know that this is right up your street; for everybody else it's a fascinating and occasionally funny study of an inordinately influential individual at the apex of a bizarre and enthralling industry, and those that surround her.

Meryl Streep's character in The Devil Wears Prada is rumoured to be inspired by Anna Wintour, the legendary editor-in-chief of the fashion magazine Vogue, and it's not hard to see how so. A cup of Starbucks in hand, the bob hairdo, the cutting remarks, people going into a frenzy whenever her name is mentioned, and worse when dazzled by her presence. Even the vogue office does seem quite similar in terms of layout, and the number of assistants constantly scurrying around looking busy and executing to her every instruction.

It's hard not to see why Wintour and Vogue for that matter, became the subjects of a documentary, since both are very powerful in setting the agenda for an entire industry, with what's being said and featured in the magazine, goes. R.J. Cutler's documentary provided that sneak peek into the behind the scenes working of what's to date the largest single issue of the iconic fashion magazine (it's September 2007 issue), where little interesting nuggets of information get dropped around, such as the distinction and importance of the September issue (hence the title) in trend-setting what's hot and what's possibly not, over the next 12 months.

There are always people curious about the glamorous industry, filled with pretty clothes, flamboyant designers, glitzy fashion weeks in trendy capitals of the world, and of course, the beautiful clothes-horse models. It does seem to be this perfect little eco-system filled with perfect people on the surface, though those looking toward this film in digging out some skeletons from the closet will be sorely disappointed. This in part due to the power that Wintour wields, where you see not only new designers in awe, but veterans from the established fashion houses that come with reverence, for possibly fear of offending the almighty, the high priestess or so she's called, in charge of the bible of the industry.

But of course one editor a magazine maketh not. R.J.'s documentary provided a more holistic look at the making of the magazine. And not just any magazine mind you, but THE one brand that has been around for more than a century, and with that comes trust and influence to make or break designers. R.J. was provided unprecedented access into the behind-the- scenes look at the assembling of an issue, and with that comes plenty of photo shoots, jet- setting lifestyles, the pursuit of deadlines, and enough of office politics. The amount of work is just staggering.

However, the filmmaker does seem to fall short in eliciting a lot more from Wintour, aside from talking-heads styled short interviews which became the bookends of the film. In fact, it's more of the Creative Director Grace Coddington's show, where you will probably be won over by her sheer genius and eye for creative art form in directing photo shoots and dreaming up storyboards on the fly for the still pictures to tell a story. I admit I was more impressed with Coddington's story, wry humour and creative style rather than Wntour's cool demeanour, which often sets them up for clashes, for the good of the magazine of course, in constantly raising the bar, though at times it does seem that someone's creative spark do get unappreciated and often doused with cold water. Such is their love-hate professional relationship.

Which primes this film with a "villain" so to speak, but of course the boss always has the final say and calls the shots. We do get to see how both of them rose to power (they started off as models!) through their joining Vogue at the same time, and rise through the ranks based on their respective strengths. Filled with countless of fashion celebrities, clothes, accessories and the occasional cutting remark (I do think Wintour seemed to have held back her tongue a lot more since a camera is constantly in her way), The September Issue is a superb look into the sheer intense and immense talent and hard work that goes into the publication of every issue, and would likely induce you to grab a copy of Vogue right after the show.

I'll never look at this magazine in the same frivolous light ever again, as they are really taken seriously given the money made available and someone's career probably on the line too.

I had two great insights into Vogue and the fashion world. The first, and most important insight is that assuming the Vogue target audience is 25-45, the people who make the most important decisions are well above that age. Anna Wintour must be in her mid 50's, similarly or even older, Grace Coddington, Karl Lagerfeld, Jean Paul Gaulthier, Giorgio Armani, Oscar de la Renta, etc, etc. And what was also relevant about this "discovery" as seen in the movie, is that these people are NOT wearing the ridiculous outfits they are foisting on the public through magazines such as Vogue--which sets the fashion dictates of a season. Anna Wintour wore only the most feminine, attractive, figure flattering, AGE-APPROPRIATE outfits throughout the movie---which are damn hard to find in the stores! (unless, perhaps, one is paying top, top dollar for designer prices which may cater to an older crowd) But the fashion designs that are being interpreted for mainstream America is following the latest trends as written and photographed by Vogue. Secondly, this is a movie that attempts to humanize Anna Wintour, and does so simply by showing that she is an obsessive human being, whose obsession is her magazine. She does show some warmth with her daughter, but otherwise she is simply driven and clearly makes no attempt to ease the palpable discomfort of others in her presence. She's not evil, nor bitchy, but she does seems to take some pride her in tabla rosa facial expressions--which clearly raises the anxiety level of those submitting work to her. It wouldn't hurt her professionalism to attempt more empathy, but I guess she doesn't see it that way. Overall, it's a very interesting movie and shows the business side of creating the largest fashion magazine in the world, complete with casual references to using Photoshop to enhance an already beautiful woman, or the promotion of fur in fashion due probably to the large amount of furriers who buy advertising. Great eye candy throughout!

The most interesting thing about this movie was that it wasn't about fashion. The movie was about work and excellence. Vogue wouldn't be a success without the creativity of Grace Coddington and the business acumen of Anna Wintour.

Grace Coddington was a revelation and her ability to tell stories through still images is inspiring.

I long suspected that The Devil Wears Prada was a cruel screed against Anna Wintour. I think in this movie we see a more accurate picture of who she is. While not the warmest person in the world, she comes across as incredibly real and she is good at what she does. That must be respected.