Meryl Streep Reveals Anna Wintour Feud Nearly Ruined ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Wardrobe — Until Family Ties Emerged

Meryl Streep’s candid admission about the 2006 premiere of The Devil Wears Prada reveals a striking contradiction: the film’s iconic fashion moments were nearly derailed by the very woman who inspired its central character.

In a May 2026 Vogue cover story, Streep told Anna Wintour and Greta Gerwig that during the original production, “everybody was afraid of Anna on the first one, so we couldn’t identify any clothes.” The comment, made amid the global press tour for the sequel’s May 1, 2026 release, underscores how the real-life tension between Streep and Wintour nearly hampered the film’s wardrobe—a detail now reframed by a newly confirmed familial connection.

According to Ancestry data cited by The Times of India, Streep and Wintour share fifth great-grandparents from Pennsylvania’s Bucks County, making them sixth cousins. This discovery, reported just ahead of the sequel’s premiere, transforms what was long considered artistic inspiration into a verifiable lineage. Weisberger, Wintour’s former assistant and the novel’s author, grew up near that same Bucks County area, creating a geographic and generational echo between fiction and family history.

Wintour has long acknowledged the parallel, calling Miranda Priestly “a caricature” on The New Yorker Radio Hour whereas praising Streep’s performance as “fantastic.” She later described the portrayal as “a fair shot,” particularly lauding Emily Blunt’s operate. Their public rapport has included a 2017 Vogue sit-down and a 2025 Milan Fashion Week reunion—moments that now carry added weight given their confirmed kinship.

The sequel’s press tour has seen Streep and Hathaway traverse Mexico City, Seoul and other global stops in avant-garde fashion, a stark contrast to the 2006 premiere’s logistical struggles. That year, Hathaway wore a strapless yellow satin Prada dress at the L.A. Film Festival premiere, followed by a crimson gown with a plunging cowl neck at the New York celebration, where Blunt appeared in a knee-length magenta dress with lace trim and a coordinating sash. Overseas festival stops in Venice and Deauville featured Streep, Hathaway, and Stanley Tucci.

What began as a costume crisis rooted in industry apprehension has evolved into a narrative of unintended legacy—where fiction, fashion, and family converge two decades later. The irony is not lost on those who recall Streep’s warning: the very influence that shaped Miranda Priestly may have almost kept her from wearing the part.

Why were costume designers hesitant to dress Meryl Streep for the original film?

According to Streep’s account in Vogue, designers avoided lending clothes due to fear of Anna Wintour’s reaction, given the widespread belief that Miranda Priestly was modeled after her.

How does the newly confirmed family connection change the understanding of Miranda Priestly’s inspiration?

The discovery that Streep and Wintour are sixth cousins transforms the character’s inspiration from artistic interpretation into a documented familial link, adding a layer of real-life lineage to the fiction.

What did Anne Hathaway wear at the 2006 New York premiere of The Devil Wears Prada?

Hathaway wore a crimson gown with a plunging cowl neck at the New York premiere, as noted in the Vogue retrospective on the film’s early promotional events.