Parties You Will Never Get Into

In the end, the Devil does indeed wear Prada.

Clothed in Prada Cruise, American Vogue’s deified editor-in-chief Anna Wintour heralded the premiere of The September Issue with close friends and VIPs. The long-gestating documentary played August 19 at an invitations-only screening party hosted by Wintour in New York City.

Moviegoers were a roll call of fashion overlords. Designers Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Vera Wang, Jack McCollough, Jason Wu, Lazaro Hernandez, Richard Chai, Georgina Chapman, Zac Posen and Thakoon Panichgul all made sure to attend, lest they enrage fashion’s legendary “Nuclear Wintour.”

Insiders considered the screening party one of the most important dates for fashion in 2009. After all, the R.J. Cutler-directed documentary is a voyeuristic chronicle of Vogue’s September 2007 edition, one of the thickest magazine issues of all time.

A flood of people vied for a ticket to the premiere, which included a private dinner with the Vogue editrix herself. Despite the limited invites, folding chairs had to be hauled in the venue at the Museum of Modern Art for extraneous viewers.

Wintour accorded the September 2007 cover girl her seat of honor at the screening party. Sienna Miller, who graced the cover in a now-iconic shot by Mario Testino, calmly sat front-row as Wintour impaled her onscreen with icy putdowns.

Indeed, this is the film where Wintour famously dismissed Miller as being “too toothy” for Vogue.

If there were any acrimony between the two, nothing of the sort was seen at the premiere. Arriving with daughter Bee Shaffer, Wintour closely accompanied Miller on the red carpet, the actress clad in a sky-blue mini-dress by Thakoon.

Renée Zellweger, who was also a Vogue cover girl, was included in Wintour’s guest list, along with P. Diddy, Cassie, and Alexa Chung. Models Karlie Kloss, Chanel Iman and Caroline Trentini also came.

Not to be missed at the party were Wintour’s famous Vogue subordinates, Andre Leon Talley and Grace Coddington.