Miranda Priestly is in trouble. Swimming against the tide of AI, TikTok and every ambitious influencer threatening to derail the publishing industry, Priestly is doing what she does best: armouring up and click-clacking her way through Elias-Clarke budget meetings and utterly un-groundbreaking spring trend forecasts. But her fashion-forward front in The Devil Wears Prada 2 has holes in it. Did anyone really envisage the return of Valentino Rockstud shoes on fashion's most powerful fictional figure?
The first trailer for the sequel shows Priestly power walking across the Runway offices in a pair of zero-f*cks-given, siren-red Valentino stilettos detailed with the Italian brand's once-signature metallic pyramid accents. Inspired by the notches on roman doors, these are heels that could, quite feasibly, take an underling down. But while the punky pumps are the fieriest iterations of the Rockstud around - more campy costume than everyday editor attire - the vertiginous heels transport us back to a very distinct time in fashion when Priestly would be arguably looking ahead.
The year is 2010 and Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli have just unveiled their autumn/winter 2010 collection as co-creative directors of Valentino (imagine... co-creative directors now!), in which, per Vogue Runway's Nicole Phelps, they steered the house narrative away from the ruffled, romantic codes of Valentino Garavani and towards a more dangerous, youthful sensibility. Nothing, fashion thought at the time, spelled out sass quite like a point-toe pump laden with pleasingly symmetrical hardware. Especially when paired with a teeny-tiny dress and a leather jacket. "Wow, I want to wear Valentino for the first time," said a smattering of young editors. Chloë Sevigny bought in, and the shoes sold out in every iteration. Company revenues almost doubled.
While the Rockstud never really went away, Piccioli, who took sole charge of the house in 2016 when Chiuri left for Dior, gave it a refresh for spring/summer 2021 via a caged flat style. For insiders, its messaging was clear: capitalise on nostalgia by betting big on a cult street-style accessory in the midst of a tough retail climate. Except that no one - bar Miranda Priestly! - bought in.
It's not the first pair of red shoes spied on Miranda in the glimpses of the sequel thus far, and we get the narrative being conjured up by the costume department. Red shoes are empowering! From Dorothy's ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz, sought after by the Wicked Witch of the West, to the lacquered soles of Christian Louboutin's red-carpet favourites, which the shoemaker protected via trademark after a long court case against Yves Saint Laurent, there's always a red-hot story to tell. Indeed, Hans Christian Andersen's 1845 tale The Red Shoes sees its protagonist Karen forced to dance herself to death after succumbing to vanity and wearing her coveted carmine slippers to church. Connected to royalty (France's 17th-century King Louis XIV decreed only nobility could pose in their silly little rosy shoes) and luck (in China and India, red is worn by brides), as well as sexuality and fertility, the message is clear: you can't wear scarlet-coloured anything and go incognito. Which begs the question: is Miranda having a complete identity crisis? Why doesn't she have the Olsen twins on speed dial to intervene?
Priestly's Rockstuds, while a fun blast from the past, also raise the issue of newly installed Valentino creative director Alessandro Michele, whose gorgeous granny pumps sit at the opposite end of the footwear spectrum to their rebellious predecessors. There are Alessandro acolytes (Florence Welch, Dakota Johnson) and then there are PP girls (Meghan Markle leads the fan club for Balenciaga, which Piccioli now helms). Miranda would know better than to wear a previous brand staple when a new creative lead has been installed. Unless there's a whole narrative about fashion's musical chairs we don't know about in The Devil Wears Prada 2. Perhaps Priestly has the scoop! Perhaps she's just really into TheRealReal. Anything - as we know - is feasible in fashion, but the red shoe of it all doesn't quite add up. Get her in a pair of Michele's sling-backs, stat.