A Press Tour That Plays Like a Runway
For a film about a fashion magazine, The Devil Wears Prada 2 was never going to settle for routine step-and-repeat style. From New York to London and across Europe, the premieres have felt closer to couture runway shows than standard red carpets. Power reds, inky blacks and optic whites have dominated, echoing the movie’s poster palette and signalling a deliberate, almost editorial approach to dressing. At the New York world premiere, Anne Hathaway’s custom Louis Vuitton tea-length gown and Meryl Streep’s sculptural Givenchy cape set the tone: high drama silhouettes, cinematic colour and jewellery chosen for impact rather than subtlety. In London, the atmosphere escalated again, with looks from Prada to Schiaparelli and Balenciaga styled as if they were pages from Runway brought to life. The result is a press tour where red carpet accessories function as narrative devices, referencing characters, plotlines and fashion lore as much as they do trends.
Emily Blunt, Mikimoto and the New Pearl Power
No accessory storyline has been more decisive than Emily Blunt’s partnership with Mikimoto, which has quietly reframed pearls as the ultimate modern flex. At the New York premiere, Blunt offset an extravagant Schiaparelli gown with a refined suite of Akoya pearl jewellery, designed with clean, architectural lines rather than retro fuss. The focus was on lustre and precision – evenly matched pearls and sharp diamond accents – underscoring how pearl jewelry trend narratives have shifted from “old-fashioned heirloom” to “streamlined, investment luxury.” In London, she doubled down in Mikimoto again, this time with the Sunburst Necklace featuring large white South Sea cultured pearls and diamond-rich rings, proving that pearls can anchor a full-throttle, fashion-forward look. Across markets, pearls are gaining momentum as a versatile staple, embraced by younger consumers who want pieces that move effortlessly between daywear, events and, as Blunt demonstrates, the highest-profile red carpets.
The Million-Dollar Red Moment and Colour-Matched Flexing
Blunt’s most talked-about outing came at the London premiere, where she wore nearly USD 1 million (approx. RM4.6 million) worth of Mikimoto jewellery with a custom, head-to-toe red Balenciaga look. The structural strapless top, fluid train, matching trousers and crimson pumps created a block of saturated colour that turned her pearl-and-diamond Sunburst Necklace into a spotlight rather than an accent. This is the new red carpet flex: high-impact, colour-coordinated accessories that extend a singular idea from gown to shoes to jewels. Rather than defaulting to neutral metals, stylists are using jewellery to deepen or sharpen a palette – scarlet pearls and diamonds against scarlet fabric, ruby stones echoing lipstick, clutches mirroring the tone of gloves or sunglasses. On these Devil Wears Prada 2 carpets, maximalist, monochrome styling has overtaken simple “statement necklace” moments, signalling a shift toward fully conceived accessory stories.
Method Dressing Through Accessories, Not Just Gowns
If the first film made cerulean sweaters a cultural reference, the sequel’s tour is elevating accessories as shorthand for character. London’s European premiere leaned hard into method dressing: Meryl Streep’s red satin Prada coat and tailored black trousers were pure Miranda Priestley, but it was her diamond-encrusted “RUNWAY” clutch and dark sunglasses that completed the homage, echoing the film’s iconic “book” and her editor-in-chief mystique. In New York, her Givenchy cape and black opera gloves again hinged on accessories to telegraph power. Anne Hathaway’s cherry-red Louis Vuitton gown nodded to the film’s graphics, but Bulgari jewellery and matching pumps pushed the look into polished Andy Sachs evolution. Across the tour, accessories – from oversized sunglasses to logo’d clutches and exaggerated gloves – are doing the heaviest storytelling, proving that Devil Wears Prada 2 fashion is less about cosplay and more about sophisticated character referencing.
How Gaga, Simone Ashley and Others Rewrote the Dress Code
Beyond the core trio, the cast and guests have treated red carpet accessories as a way to reinterpret the film’s fashion heritage. Simone Ashley’s vintage pink Thierry Mugler gown in London, with its sculptural hips, chunky belt and streamlined diamond earrings, fused archival runway drama with modern minimal jewellery, channeling a new-generation “Andy” through silhouette and sparkle. Lady Gaga’s black gown in New York leaned into her signature theatrical glamour, relying on the dress’s architecture and likely bold jewellery to read as high drama rather than nostalgia. Heidi Klum’s turquoise gown added a jolt of colour that stood apart from the dominant red-black-white code, while pieces like rose brooches, oversized headwear and couture-level clutches surfaced across the carpets. Together, these celebrity jewellery looks reinforce the key takeaways destined to filter into mainstream red carpet accessories: modern pearls, maximalist jewellery stacks, sculptural bags and unapologetically high-drama earrings.
