Vogue: The September Issue

R. J. Cutler's compelling documentary The September Issue, is a fascinating, eye-opening and often playful peek into the inner sanctum of style, following editrix Anna Wintour and her team as they assemble the September 2007 issue of American Vogue.

Although it's difficult to comprehend why a woman so preoccupied with image and control would permit cameras into her world for nine moths, it's not hard to see why it was Cutler who persuade her. Big, bearish, red-haired and, he admits, far better groomed now than he was before he entered Wintour's orbit, the film-maker is respectful of her achievements and careful in conversation. Questions about everything from Wintour's relationships to whether she ever has fun are met with a cautious "It's not for me to say".

Cutler says, "Nobody can put on an act for nine months. This is Anna Wintour. She is extremely economical in the manner in which she communicates, She doesn't waste a second of any day as far as I can tell. I once asked her if I could come to her house to film her hanging out. She said: 'I don't hang out'."

Also featured in the film is Grace Coddington, Vogue's creative director. With her wild red hair and explosibe enthusiasms, she seems the antithesis of Wintour's groome froideur. It is the spiky relationship between these two difficult, brilliant women that drives the film.

Source: Wendy Ide for Times2