"The Devil Wears Prada 2" and the New Multipolar Order of Luxury What do the brands mentioned in the trailer tell us about today's fashion?

In the latest trailer for the highly anticipated The Devil Wears Prada 2 we see the character of Nigel, played by Stanley Tucci, styling Andy Sachs by pulling pieces from various brands out of a large wardrobe: the first is Fendi, quite predictable; followed by Brunello Cucinelli (“We loooove that,” comments the character) and finally Toteme. A significant choice, since these are the only brands mentioned in a trailer that in just over 48 hours has surpassed 6 million views and that, therefore, enjoy extremely high visibility in the film’s communication.

The only other brand mentioned is Chanel, whose garments Andy Sachs has given away because they were too “important” for her editorial job. A choice that Miranda’s new assistant comments on with shock: “Who gives away Chanel?” But in a film with such high impact, whose filming involved Milan Fashion Week itself, a Vogue cover in which Meryl Streep posed alongside Anna Wintour, and product placement worth tens of millions (we’ll have to see how much of a blockbuster the film will be, but it looks like it will be), the name-dropping of brands reflects the change taking place in the world of luxury.

While in the 2006 film screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna mentioned fairly conventional brands, later immortalized by the film’s most famous lines, the brands cited in this sequel’s trailer speak of a new luxury world in which it is no longer just the big fashion houses dominating the scene, but a multipolar ecosystem of brands. The hegemony of the major names appears to have weakened in favor of a more fragmented scenario. But what picture of today’s fashion does The Devil Wears Prada 2 seem to offer?