The September Issue takes a pre-season peek behind the dark Wayfarers of Vogue’s ice queen-in-chief. What to expect? A warmer side of Wintour, reports Tals Diaz from the runway

She watches her fashion empire from the front row like an ice queen carved out of fiction. Behind her signature dark glasses and Prince Valiant pageboy, Anna Wintour’s frosty presence can get every fashionista, junior editor, and aspiring designer shaking in their stilettos. 

For no one else in the 300 billion dollar fashion industry can incite such terror and awe as Vogue’s influential diva-in-chief of two decades, known for her ruthless aesthetic and relentless perfectionism. Beyond the glossy page, she struts into celebrity pantheon as fashion’s A-list villainess. The offenses read like a how-to list on snubbing political correctness: she’s PETA’s own Cruella De Vil Wears Prada, the living nightmare of every animal rights activist for her unapologetic allegiance to fur. She’s an elitist accused of using the magazine for promoting her restrictive views on femininity, even outspokenly criticizing some of the world’s most powerful women for not adhering to her unrealistic standards of beauty. This is the woman who told Hillary Clinton to lose her navy blue suits, and even told Oprah repeatedly she’d never land a Vogue cover unless she lost weight. 

This is the woman who told Hillary Clinton to lose her navy blue suits, and even told Oprah repeatedly she’d never land a Vogue cover unless she lost weight. 

With these in mind, filmmaker R.J. Cutler must surely be a kind of Diva Whisperer for getting an all-access pass to Wintour Wonderland for his documentary, The September Issue.

Filmed during the grueling and dramatic production process of Vogue’s biggest issue to date in September 2007, with 840 pages and weighing 5 pounds. Cutler takes viewers to the magazine’s New York headquarters and couture clothes racks, to storyboard sessions and editorial meetings, to Fashion Week and photo shoots in Europe, and into the private lives of La Wintour and her glamorous editors. 

If anything, the documentary attempts to chip away at Wintour’s untouchable persona. It catches her at moments so refreshing, even melancholy—less the sadistic Miranda Priestly character, and more of the passionate curator with sharp business acumen; less the she-devil than the wise mentor who hones true talent when she sees it. And more importantly, outside the Vogue offices, there is the Anna Wintour who is mother, daughter, and sister. A rather touching scene shows her bonding time with her teenage daughter who has no interest in fashion. You almost want to cheer when you detect a motherly smile escaping her face.

The happy surprise in the film is found in the sub-story of Vogue’s creative director, ex-model-turned-editor Grace Coddington. A fashion and styling genius, Grace is revealed as the soul of the magazine, a romantic spirit whose creative layouts don’t always survive Wintour’s overall vision in the cutting room. The precarious relationship between these two women provides insight about the publishing business itself—the continued conflict between unfettered creativity and business sensibility.

Highly entertaining, hilarious, and at times heartbreaking, The September Issue is a cinematic equivalent of a cover-to-cover indulgence. Who would’ve thought you could warm up to a Nuclear Wintour?