SLIMMING WORLD

With the sequel to 2006 film ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ in the works, Olivia Petter says star Emily Blunt is highlighting the fashion industry’s continuing obsession with thinness

- By Olivia Petter

The devil might wear Prada, but she definitely does not eat pasta. At least, that seems to be the takeaway from a new interview with Emily Blunt. Speaking to Porter, the British actress who played Emily in The Devil Wears Prada spoke about reprising her role in the highly anticipated sequel, which also stars her brother-in-law, Stanley Tucci. “He’s not good for your Devil Wears Prada diet though, because he's cooking pasta and making me drink martinis with him every night," she teased. "He was like, 'Em, do you want some pomodoro pasta?' I'm like, 'I do, but I have to be in Dior couture today, so we'll see.”

Blunt might've been joking. But her words speak a sadder, more serious truth about the state of an industry's perennial obsession with thinness, one that has not dissipated at all since the original film came out in 2006. In fact, I think it's only become more prevalent. Consider the parallels between Blunt's words and those of her character in the first film, who tells protagonist Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway) that she's trying to slim down for Paris Fashion Week. “I’m on this new diet,” she says. “Well, I don’t eat anything, and when I feel like I’m about to faint, I eat a cube of cheese. I’m just one stomach flu away from my goal weight.”

That quote - funny, absurd, and firmly established in the pop culture canon for all time - might seem like a throwaway line designed to poke fun at fashion. We can laugh because it's hyperbole; surely nobody would ever actually do such a diet, or try to make themselves unwell to lose weight. Well, as someone who has covered London Fashion Week for around eight years and has several friends in the industry, I can tell you quite confidently that they would. Because this is how people in this industry speak and behave.