REVIEW: THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE

R. J. Cutler's The September Issue was screened as part of Toronto's LG Fashionweek festivities last night. The documentary centers around the creative processes behind the most important issue of the year for fashion authority Vogue. We also see firsthand, editor Anna Wintour's meticulous involvement overseeing it all. The audience gets a behind-the-scenes peek at the many creative differences that often surface over the final approval process including photo conceptualization, selection and placement.

Wintour is said notoriously to be uncompromising and extremely particular according to fashion industry insiders. She is rumoured to be so difficult in fact, that a top-selling novel by Lauren Weisberger and successful film adaptation, The Devil Wears Prada have been made on the matter. In The September Issue, we get glimpses of Wintour's personal life where we learn about her upbringing in a very Victorian home where she interacted little with her parents. In contrast, we also see her interact with her daughter Bee Shaffer lovingly. Shaffer surprisingly has no aspirations to be in the fashion industry instead wanting to break into the legal profession. Later in the film, we see Wintour on the verge of tears when she talks about her relentless need to be respected by her sibilings. Although she has been called the single most important figure in the fashion industry, it is clear that she still feels she has much to prove to her own family. Heartbreaking.

We also get to know Grace Coddington, a former model whose career ended after a tragic car accident which resulted in her requiring corrective plastic surgery. Coddington went on to become the Creative Director at American Vogue. There is no question that she is the heart and soul behind the magazine after watching this documentary. The audience watches her internalize each creative rejection from Wintour. Her vision is dead-focussed and we cannot help but feel for her seeing her pour her heart into the conceptualization process, only to have ideas ix-nayed in the end. We learn through Coddington that introducing celebrities as feature subjects in Vogue was actually Wintour's idea and being a bit of a puritan herself, Coddington still seems very much against this idea. The audience quickly sees why this is the case when the team at Vogue exerts quite the joint effort in making September 2007 issue covergirl Sienna Miller look glamorous. Regardless though, Wintour and Coddington are a winning team - the former balancing the business aspect of the magazine, the latter balancing the creative.


There are many humorous moments in this film and on many levels it pokes fun (in a good way) at how seriously the fashion industry takes itself, just as Shaffer tells the cameras in the presence of her mother. It is quite unfortunate that charismatic editor-at-large André Leon Talley never quite gets enough screen time as he is the perfect comic relief also. Robin Kay, President of Fashion Design Council Canada, introduced the film last night and hinted that this film isn't an accurate depiction of Wintour's personality. Perhaps she really doesn't know Wintour well enough? I loved this film and I want more. The September Issue is released through Roadside Attractions and it hits theatres today, October 23, 2009. Grade: A