The costume designer behind The Devil Wears Prada 2 has distanced itself from one of the most talked about fashion moments in the film’s trailers, and the story behind how those Valentino Rockstud heels ended up on Miranda Priestly’s feet is quite the story.
Molly Rogers revealed to Fashionexplaining that the bold red and gold studded shoes that appeared in a widely discussed trailer shot were never her choice.
She had already traveled to Milan to film when the decision was made without her.
“I had gone to Milan, where we were going to film some scenes. I wasn’t there that day when they were filming another scene, and they just took Meryl’s shoes off. I had chosen another shoe,” he said.
What followed was a frantic series of phone calls.
“I was getting panicked phone calls from attendees telling me that the marketing team had decided they liked this other shoe, which at the time really offended me because I knew a marketing person didn’t know anything about a Rockstud, and I didn’t think it was appropriate for Miranda to wear a Rockstud.”
And he added with his characteristic dry humor: “From afar, he stuck pins in voodoo dolls.”
Rogers noted that wardrobe decisions for a character as precisely defined as Miranda Priestly require a level of expertise that goes far beyond liking a shoe.
“You could give most of us, especially me, a rack full of white blouses, and I could choose the one Miranda would wear and the one Emily would wear and the one Annie would wear. There are nuances, like the two blue belts in the first movie.”
The response the shoe received online was measured.
“When I saw that fuss about that shoe, I was like, I’m innocent. I’m glad if people like it because it’s a callback or whatever, but if you don’t like it, I understand that too.”
It turns out that the Rockstud was a deliberate marketing placement.
The style originally debuted in Valentino’s Fall 2010 collection and has since been updated by current creative director Alessandro Michele.
Valentino’s head of integrated marketing confirmed the strategic intent on LinkedIn, noting that the trailer had generated hundreds of millions of views with the brand at the center.
Rogers also shared a warm detail about Valentino’s connection to the franchise, noting that the founder himself, likely a reference to Valentino Garavani, who died in January, had told Streep while she was on vacation in Italy that he would provide her with anything she needed.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 opens on May 1st.
