When Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour sit down together, it is impossible not to see a layered cultural history. Streep famously played the mean-spirited editor Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada, a character long rumored to be inspired by Wintour herself.
Nearly two decades later, with a highly anticipated sequel to the film set for release in May, the two women were once again placed side by side—this time in a wide-ranging Vogue interview that moved from fashion to power and, ultimately, to politics. Newsweek reached out to Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour’s representatives for comment via email.
The conversation, chaired by American Vogue editor Chloé Malle, brought together Streep and Wintour alongside filmmaker Greta Gerwig, who worked with Streep on Little Women in 2019. While the feature spanned multiple themes, the candid discussion anchored in clothing, self-presentation and authority led both Streep and Wintour to reflect on how women, particularly in the public eye, dress to present and communicate their innermost ambitions.
Making a Statement With Style
The exchange offered a rare moment of alignment and contrast between two women who, in very different ways, have shaped how power, taste and femininity are understood. Wintour, in part of the conversation, approached fashion as an expression of personal identity, while Streep focused on how style can send unintended—or inescapable—messages, pointing specifically to Melania Trump and the scrutiny surrounding her style in both her turns as first lady.
“I don’t think wearing a power suit to the office is in any way necessary,” Wintour said, in the conversation that Vogue noted has been lightly edited. “Think about the women that one admires: Mrs. Obama comes to mind. Whether she’s wearing J. Crew or Duro Olowu or Matthieu Blazy’s Chanel, she always looks like herself.
“I’m full of admiration for New York City’s new first lady [Rama Duwaji] because she looks so cool and wears a lot of vintage—young and modern and also entirely herself. To be fair, Melania Trump also always looks like herself when she dresses,” Wintour continued.
What Did Meryl Streep Say?
Streep’s response acknowledged that view while widening the lens.
“All dress is about expressing yourself,” the Oscar-winning actress said, “but we’re also subject to larger historical and political sweeps of expectation.”
For Streep, clothing worn by women in power often cannot be separated from its context—particularly when moments are already politically charged. She pointed to one outfit in particular, the jacket Melania Trump wore in 2018 when visiting migrant children who had been detained. The slogan printed on the coat, Streep said, carried meaning beyond personal expression. The jacket inspired much debate and discussion at the time.
“I think the most…powerful message that our current first lady sent was in the coat that said “I Really Don’t Care, Do U?” when she was going to see migrant children who were incarcerated,” Streep said.
Streep went on to talk about the confines that she perceives still dictate how women in the public eye dress, implying that they also have to factor in dressing for acceptance and social survival.
“I’m stunned at how women in power have to have bare arms on television, while men are covered in shirts and ties or a suit,” Streep continued.
“There’s an apology built into women. They have to show their smallness. It’s compensatory: the advancements of women in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of this one have been destabilizing. It’s as if women have to say, “I’m little. I can’t walk in these shoes. I can’t run. I’m bare, not threatening.”
In a later part of the discussion, Streep went into detail about how interlinked styling is with what one is trying to communicate to the world. She pointed to her background in costume design and how she sees costuming as an integral part of stepping into character on set.
“When I was at Vassar, that was my degree, in costume design, because I’m a good sewer and I really love drawing,” Streep said. “For my thesis, I designed 60 costumes for Camino Real—you know, the Tennessee Williams play. And all those characters are so vivid. They’re so idiosyncratic and weird. All my life, I’ve thought I’ve been such a pain in the a** for whomever is the costume designer, because I have such little nitpicky ideas.”
Across the feature, Streep and Wintour move easily between fashion, film and power, reflecting on how women are seen, judged and remembered in public life. The conversation touches on creativity, authority and the cultural legacy surrounding The Devil Wears Prada, with Gerwig adding perspective as both a collaborator and filmmaker.
The article, headlined, “Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour on Power, Fashion, and Acting the Part,” was published by Vogue on April 7.