The September Issue Movie Trailer

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Editor’s Note: This trailer was released a couple weeks ago, but we never got around to covering it. Now that we have the time, here it is.

Amidst the on-going events of New York Fashion Week, the well-received Anna Wintour/VOGUE documentary, The September Issue, opened in limited release in select cities on Sept. 11th. Appropriately enough, say the snarks. As the trailer below nicely alludes, the doc has a number of factors working in its favor per mainstream interest, not least of which is an unprecedented IRL look at the woman/editrix who served as the basis for The Devil Wears Prada. The title refers to the annual, fabled fashion tome, and, more specifically, to the 2007 edition, which “ended up weighing nearly five pounds, was 840 pages, and was the single largest issue of a magazine ever published,” in VOGUE’s ’s 117-year history.


Of course, the movie will also come to be viewed in the years ahead as a time capsule capturing a mag industry figureheaded by only a few larger-than-life editors, ones who have household names and maintain powerful-if-not-Draconian personalities (alongside Vanity Fair’s Graydon Carter and Rolling Stone’sJann Wenner).

Issue has received agreeable marks for documenting the closed-door relationship and creative dichotomy between Wintour and VOGUE’s ginger-haired senior stylist and creative director, Grace Coddington (she’s served on the masthead for just as long, dating back to 1988). Director R.J. Cutler—I’m still not clear on how he arranged the exclusive access—and cinematographer Bob Richman (the Paradise Lost docs) both feel that Coddington ended up becoming a charismatic highlight; the Washington Examiner even refers to her as its “unsung heroine” for her displayed ability to stand up for ideas and ideals, however the outcome.

If there’s a recurring quibble in reviews it’s that, unlike Meryl Streep’s facsimile in Prada, Wintour’s image and characteristic ‘do loom over the real person; but viewers probably expect that given the calculated superficiality of high fashion. The trailer does a good job at making the film seem substantial and not a complete gloss-over, while offering the name-drops, flaming one-liners, and camera flashes requisite for any modern doc on the fashion world. If you’ve managed to check it out, let us know what you thought in the comments.

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  • Consuelo Azucena S. Peredo
    Good morning. I would like to know where/when can I order TWO copies of the documentary film SUMMER ISSUE.
  • GregoryV
    I just watched it.

    Editor in Chief Anna Wintour seems to be the focus but creative director Anna Coddington really stole the film. It's great to see the relationship between two different people, with two different visions, working on the same goal. It's a great little doc for fashionistas but for people who are not interested in high end fashion, it may not be for you. And keep in mind, it's not a chick flick.

    Grace Coddington is really awesome, she's a real inspiration to me because I really want her job. haha. And I also realize I actually have that September Sieanna Miller issue.



  • Octoberist
    i've seen that guy with the sunglasses before on TV. Why does he always wears biker gloves?
  • Sketch
    That's just Lagerfeld's look. He might dress weird but he's done great things for Chanel and many others.

    I saw the trailer a while back, wanted to see it, forgot about it, and now of course want to see it again.
  • fanboy_d
    wow. a documentary for audiences that liked sex and the city, devil wears prada and the hills

    and it looks good
  • Davide
    This is really solid, old-school well-crafted doc. There are several laughs - some with the contributors, some at them - and you get a sense that you've stepped inside somewhere otherwise completely inaccessible. Grace Coddingtdon was the real surprise for me; she's talented in a creative rather than a reductive way as Anna Wintour is, and she's genuinely likeable. It seems to be a real two-hander that keeps Vogue at the top - Anna out front and Grace toiling away behind the scenes.

    Wintour isn't a true bitch on camera, but she doesn't shy away from being a very tough boss, and I felt it was a fair portrait of her. We also get to see some of her wit, and a moment spent with her daughter at home is a delight.

    The film delivers on the whole glamour of the deal - there are film stars, travelogues around grand Europeans cities and big name designers caught informally on camera.

    I've no love for fashion (in fact have rather a lot of issues with the industry as a whole) but I found this engaging and rewarding, if not earth-shattering. I won't give away what happens in the last half hour of the film but suffice to say there are plenty of laughs and we get to see played out in front of us what divides the cold Wintour and the more human Coddington.
  • richmcleod
    It looks really good. Did this trailer just come out, even after opening in NY and LA a few weeks ago?
  • Not a fan at all of Fashion or Fashion Culture, but I found this documentary to be fascinating and also quite a lot of fun. Definitely recommended.
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