The magazine industry has been represented in film and TV countless times. Some say Ugly Betty is the most realistic, maybe you love 13 Going On 30 – to me, The Devil Wears Prada has to be the best. But what’s actually the reality of working at a fashion magazine?
Online video calls have become part of everyone’s daily routine in a COVID-19 era. Julia Harvey, Fashion Assistant at Elle, moves her screen around, setting it up in the best position, to talk to our Celeb and Fashion class, on an oddly quiet workday for her. She looks perfectly put together in a Bailey’s coloured loose shirt and gold detailed jewellery, with her hair partly pulled back. I guess that’s what you expect from someone in fashion, even working from home they make an effort.
Julia has been on a permanent contract with Elle for just over a year now, after doing short internships at publications such as Hunger, Grazia, Glamour, Vogue and GQ. Working alongside her degree in Fashion Communication and Promotion in Nottingham, allowed her to meet new people, gain experience and most importantly get her name out there. She’s tried a lot of things before her current role and says that although that it’s helpful, “it’s quite nice to have a bit of security at the moment.”
JULIA HARVEY AT WORK
When I think of The Devil Wears Prada, three scenes stand out in my mind. They each show a different side to Andy’s life as an assistant to Editor in Chief of Runway magazine, Miranda Priestly: these being franticly busy, glamorous and bad sides to the job. I first think of the iconic turquoise belt scene, where Priestly goes into boss bitch mode and starts to make Anne Hathaway’s character a living nightmare. Julia knows exactly what it’s like to be in Andy’s shoes. She explains over Teams that “there are similarities” to this film and others that depict the industry. “Sometimes I’ll be watching a film and be like ‘OMG that’s quite triggering!’”
“There are a few [people in the industry] that want what they want, and you’ve got to do it.” Julia reassuringly adds: “it’s definitely not like that at Elle,” and if there were people like Meryl Streep in TDWP, no one would want to work with them.
The clothes are obviously the desirable side to the job and my favourite moment in the film is the outfit montage; you know, the one soundtracked to Madonna’s Vogue. Julia gets to go to Fashion Week (free drinks included) and has been to a BRITs party: “I felt very boujee.” Talking about being on set for cover shoots she grins while saying: “There was a point when I was helping Stormzy with his shoes, and I was just thinking about how strange this all is…and Florence Welch started singing when we were helping her put dresses on, it was really surreal.” Working at Elle has even taken her to New York City, but it’s “definitely not all glamorous, 100%”
Her saying that reminded me of the scene from TDWP when Andy is fumbling around Manhattan fetching this and that, multiple bags and coffee in hand, not forgetting there were dogs too.
“People always need people” to lend a hand, she explains. Before we entered this traumatic and unpredictable year, Elle would have interns helping out on shoots. In-person sets turned to online video calls at the beginning of this pandemic and even though restrictions have loosened, and photo shoots are partly back up and running, the role of intern is still a rarity. Julia is now “running around all over the place.” Packing trunks and cases of clothes, shoes, accessories, un-packing them, fetching and carrying things across set, assisting with dressing the models and celebrities; just reading the list of tasks makes me feel tired.
“If I was to ever give a tip to anyone, it would be, make sure you can get around easily in your clothes and shoes.” But she says there is one clear advantage: “It just saves you going to the gym!”
Clearly there’s some truth in films like The Devil Wears Prada, but what don’t they show you?
“A typical day is so varied; it really does depend on what’s going on. So, if we have a shoot coming up, we’d be researching for that, getting in contact with PRs. But then, on another day, for example I’d be working on digital stories, getting galleries together or finding little stories to pitch. Other boring days it would be more logistical, getting clothes, beauty samples, books back to PRs. There’s always some kind of sample that a PR is chasing you back for.”
“There’s also doing credits, getting prices for the shoots, all the niggly bits.” And of course, lots and lots of emails.
No wonder this side is never filmed, I think we’d all prefer to watch an outfit montage to one where someone is in meetings and refreshes their inbox all day. Knowing this won’t stop me from enjoying films that show life working for a magazine, but I’ll have to keep it in mind that the job might not always be as exciting as it seems.
Comentários