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Meet The Devil Wears Prada author Lauren Weisberger, who was Anna Wintour’s assistant
STORYErica Jean
The sequel is here, also starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway – and now the real-life inspiration behind Andy Sachs’ nemesis has broken her silence
The Devil Wears Prada 2 is finally here, 20 years after the first film became a hit sensation. Introducing a new generation of fashion enthusiasts to the ever-changing industry, the new film – which retains much of the original cast – is sure to have many watchers guessing which parts are fact vs fiction.
Loosely inspired by the inner workings of Vogue and its long-time editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, The Devil Wears Prada was adapted from the novel of the same name. It marked author Lauren Weisberger’s debut and is semi-autobiographical: her first job after graduating (and travelling the world) was as Wintour’s personal assistant.
But without that 2003 novel there would be no Devil mania – so who is the real-life Andy Sachs?
She backpacked around the world after graduation
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Born in March 1977 to a teacher mother and mortgage broker father in Scranton, Pennsylvania – made famous in the US version of comedy series The Office – Weisberger and her younger sister grew up in Allentown, in the same state.
After graduating with a degree in English literature from Cornell University in 1999, Weisberger backpacked through Europe, Egypt, Jordan, India, Nepal, Thailand and Hong Kong.
She worked under Anna Wintour for almost a year
Returning to the US following her backpacking expedition, Weisberger moved to Manhattan and took a job as an assistant to Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine. Though Weisberger aspired to be a writer, her days in the office were filled with mundane tasks such as filing, sending faxes and fetching coffee, reported the Daily Mail. Yet in an interview on the Today show, she also described her time at Vogue as “crazy, exciting and hard”.
After 10 months at Vogue, Weisberger left for high-end travel magazine Departures, where she wrote short reviews and took creative writing classes at night.
The Devil Wears Prada: the books
As part of her coursework, Weisberger started writing about her experiences at Vogue. Her teacher shared the material with literary agent Deborah Schneider, who said, “If she wants to sell this book, I can sell it this afternoon.” The Devil Wears Prada was sold to publisher Doubleday in 2002 for a reported US$250,000, and was published the following year.
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