After 20 years, Miranda Priestly’s office is still inspiring us. Here’s why

The Devil Wears Prada 2 comes out in a few short days but in all honesty, we still can’t get over the original movie. It premiered 20 years ago and while the depictions of workaholic schedules, toxic diet culture and unsupportive boyfriends haven’t aged so well (we’re looking at you, Nate) the style certainly has.

The Devil Wears Prada revolves around Andy Sachs, played by Anne Hathaway (who was fresh off the set of Brokeback Mountain when she took on this role). She gets a job at Runway magazine, working as the junior personal assistant for the Devil-In-Chief, sorry, Editor-In-Chief, Miranda Priestly (played by the ever-iconic Meryl Streep). What follows are envy-inducing montages of stylish outfits featuring a smorgasbord of high-end fashion brands and a set design heavily influenced by Anna Wintour’s real life office (after all, she did inspire the original novel by Lauren Weisberger, her former assistant).

Style secrets from the set of The Devil Wears Prada

If you scrolled past that introduction thinking, “By all means, move at a glacial pace, you know how that thrills me,” à la Miranda Priestly in the first The Devil Wears Prada movie, then don’t worry. I’m getting to the point. Of all the gorgeous costumes and beautiful sets in this movie, our favourite has to be Miranda’s office.

After 20 years, it still holds up as an example of timeless, sleek and contemporary office design. It’s monochromatic yet far from cold, featuring just the right amount of clutter to feel lived in and real, but not so decorated that it overwhelms (did someone say midimalism?).

Scroll on to read the 5 best decorating ideas that we’re stealing from Miranda Priestly’s The Devil Wears Prada office. All that’s left to do is gird your loins.

1. Black and white is a timeless combo

Miranda Priestly might know the difference between blue, turquoise, lapis and cerulean but her office decor is strictly black and white. Monochromatic schemes are truly timeless, elevated here by accents of chrome.

The design details blend decades, further heightening that sense of timelessness. Crisp white walls feature wainscoting and deep windowsills, perfect for displaying coffee table books (which provide the only pop of colour in the space, aside from the green stems and leaves of white flowers). Meanwhile, a glass-topped desk and chrome drinks trolley add a touch of modernity.

This perfectly blends the contradictions of Runway magazine in The Devil Wears Prada; it’s a heritage brand, in traditional print media, yet it features the latest and greatest luxury fashions.

2. Art inspires creativity

Far from bare and sterile, Miranda Priestly’s office walls are filled with a carefully curated selection of art. Gallery walls can be difficult to execute – there’s a certain amount of uniformity and contrast required and if you get this ratio wrong the result can feel jarring.

In Miranda’s office, contrast comes in the form of frame colours (from white to silver, black and even brown) as well as the orientation of the artworks (mostly portraits but a few landscapes). Then uniformity is introduced through the artwork medium (black and white photographs) and the large backing boards, which in some cases take up the vast majority of the space inside the frame. The final flourish is an octagonal-shaped mirror, placed in the centre of the gallery wall.

I’m not saying that there’s a strong sense of worker morale in The Devil Wears Prada. Miranda Priestly rules with an iron fist and while “a million girls would kill for this job”, as Emily Blunt’s character, Emily Charlton points out, the workplace atmosphere is still horrific. And yet, studies have shown that offices which feature art boost productivity, creativity and morale. So maybe it’s not all terrible at Runway.

3. A big desk is a power move

There’s nothing accomodating about Miranda Priestly’s desk. The glass-topped behemoth looks heavy, with sharp corners and hard lines accentuated by the industrial materials it is comprised of. The size of the desk also instantly intimidates by enforcing distance. This is all intentional. Miranda is the boss (and a mean one at that).

Now, if you work from home, a large desk could be just what you need. Instead of intimidating employees, you can discourage your children from stepping in to the sanctum. Bonus points if you quote Miranda’s iconic and cut-throat lines to them. “Details of your incompetence do not interest me” and “Please, bore someone else with your questions” should get the message across.

If that sounds a little harsh then you could soften the result (just a little) by placing your domineering desk in the corner of the room, instead of in the middle. He may not be well known for interior design, but Stephen King agrees with this decorating move. As he wrote in On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, “put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn’t in the middle of the room. Life isn’t a support system for art. It’s the other way around.”

4. Bosses don’t need computers

There’s one glaring omission from Miranda Priestly’s desk in the original The Devil Wears Prada movie. And that one missed detail is a computer. You’re going to assume I’m wrong but scroll back through the previous images and you won’t find a computer on that pristine glass-topped desk. There’s a stapler and an office phone, notebooks and stacks of magazines, but no computer. And honestly, good for Miranda. Can you imagine her trying to raise a ticket with someone in IT?

Alas for her inferiors, Andy and Emily do have computers which take up a reasonable amount of desk space. So I guess the lesson is, if you feel you’ve reached the pinnacle of your career then you should throw out the tech and go completely analog.

5. Florals? For Spring? Groundbreaking

Alongside art and coffee table books, one of the key decorative elements in Miranda Priestly’s office is flowers. This biophilic design trend goes beyond aesthetics. Surrounding yourself with fresh blooms is oh-so good for the heart and soul (unless you’re allergic to the pollen).

The vases used to display these bouquets are made of various materials, including green glass, white ceramic and clear glass. All the flowers have white petals, including cala lilies, roses and orchids. Whatever you do, don’t decorate your office with freesias. Anyone who loves The Devil Wears Prada will well remember that if Miranda sees this flower, she’ll be “very disappointed.”

What’s new in The Devil Wears Prada 2?

Reviews are starting to come in for the new movie, as journalists watch it before the wide release to the public. And while I won’t share any spoilers or divulge what the plot of The Devil Wears Prada 2 is, I will share that we’re seeing a slightly softer Miranda Priestly. That’s clear in the small decorating changes that the set designer has made in Miranda’s office.

Jess Gonchor was the production designer of the first movie, and he opted for crisp whites and harsh angles. Now, he’s returned to the role for The Devil Wears Prada 2 but this time he’s introduced some warm whites, a little ambient light (we’re talking a full rejection of “the big light”) and even some timber. This is one of the most significant changes, in my opinion. Where Miranda’s desk was previously glass-topped, her desk in the latest movie features a light-toned timber on top, at once warming and inviting. Talk about a new woman.

Well, what are you still doing here? In the words of Miranda Priestly, “That’s all.”