Fashion fanatics clamoring to get a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes world run by Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour won't have to wait much longer. In "The September Issue," out Friday in New York and nationwide on Sept. 11, R.J. Cutler gets up close to a woman who has been portrayed as a shrew in the media and by Meryl Streep in the film "Devil Wears Prada."
The documentarian won Wintour over through his own resume, which includes producing the Oscar-nominated "The War Room," about Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign for presidency, and directing and producing the Emmy-nominated "A Perfect Candidate," about the Virginia senators' campaign between Oliver North and Charles Robb. He talked to TheWrap about Morely Safer's "60 Minutes" profile of Wintour, what most surprised him about the editor and how on earth he got inside the Vogue offices.
Did you share in the "Devil Wears Prada" perception of Wintour that many hold of her -- one of a nasty editrix?
I'm a thoughtful guy, but I try to be as naive as possible when I go into these situations. I knew that Anna was a very successful and powerful businessperson. There were caricatures of her throughout popular culture -- I knew enough to assume that the caricatures were wrong, but I didn't have any expectations. I was curious about how she does what she does.
What'd you think of the recent "60 Minutes" profile of her?
Utter balderdash. I was shocked at the narrow scope of Morely Safer's curiosity. I couldn't believe the kind of reactionary response he had to the fashion industry and the need he seems to feel to scoff at such extraordinary figures and accomplished businesspeople like Karl Lagerfeld.
And his obsession with asking Anna whether she was a bitch, I thought was insulting and sexist and silly. It was the kind of line of inquiry he never, ever would pursue with a man. If there was a guy who had a reputation for being tough and exacting, he would have been the chummiest guy on earth.
What about her most surprised you?
The fact that her influence is so pervasive. In the movie, you see the influence she has over young designers' careers and the influence she has over the most experienced and globally renown designers, as well as the role she plays with retailers and manufactures. It's this extraordinary range of influence that goes far beyond the pages of her magazines.
The other thing that was really surprising was that you hear about Anna Wintour and Vogue, but it's not just Anna Wintour and Vogue. Pretty much everybody on her staff is a future hall of famer in the world of fashion journalism.
So how long did it take you to get her OK for the project?
You could say that I had to spend 15 years making documentaries to get her say yes. At Sundance, someone asked her, "Why did you say yes?" She said she really liked my movies.
