The Devil Wears Pamella Roland and Some Prada
LONDON — Vanessa Williams knows the ins and outs of the fashion world and when the time came for her to get into the role of Miranda Priestly, the icy editor in chief of Runway magazine in the musical adaption of “The Devil Wears Prada” at the Dominion Theatre in London’s West End, it was an easy transition.
“I had four wonderful years as Wilhelmina Slater in ‘Ugly Betty’ and I knew what we were trying to create,” she says in a backroom at Claridge’s hotel.
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Williams didn’t watch or read any materials to get into her character, which is loosely based on American Vogue’s editor in chief Anna Wintour. “I work off the people I’m dealing with. It’s a whole new essence of [‘The Devil Wears Prada’] — you’ll get some of the same lines [from the movie], but it’s a whole new take on the world of Runway magazine,” she adds.
In the run up to the musical, she got the full editor in chief treatment of a bygone era with not one, but two costume designers.
“Early in the game, Vanessa said she doesn’t want to look like Meryl Streep or her character from ‘Ugly Betty,’” says Gregg Barnes, the lead costume designer on the musical.
He took Williams to Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City, booked a room for her to try a “million things on.” Ironically, they ended up taking two Prada pieces with them that are now in the show, a leather skirt and a silk floral dress.
Williams’ bigger stage pieces were designed by Pamella Roland, who has been dressing the actor since 2005 and the two have formed a close friendship.
“It’s in a theater, so it has to be a little bit more out there,” says Roland, referencing some of the bold looks such as an archive purple and blue ombre-fur coat or a beautifully bright yellow mustard coat with floral embroideries and faux-fur shawl. The brand no longer produces real fur.
One of the scene stealing moments is a glittering devil red dress with a floor-sweeping coat that’s worn on the shoulder as a cape. Priestly wears it to a fictional gala based on the Met Gala, where the theme is a satanic take on fashion and she’s dressed as the devil.
On a theater stage nothing is too literal.
At the end of the show, there’s a fashion show sequence that Roland designed for and took pieces out of her label’s archive for. The fashion show is a tribute to the runway shows in old Hollywood films such as “Funny Face” or “Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?”
As a majority of the musical is set in an office building, Barnes wanted to heighten the workwear with “very sassy and strong” pieces such as a Balmain suit for the character of Emily Charlton, played by Amy Di Bartolomeo, that features a Jane Jetson peplum.
“We wanted to represent as much fashion as possible — there’s a little bit of Tom Ford, Chanel, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood,” he says, naming eBay, Etsy, The RealReal and 1stDibs as places he sourced from.
The only item of clothing that’s referenced to the point of color and shape is the blue cerulean sweater that Andy, played by Georgie Buckland, wears and is the subject of Priestly’s monologue about the fashion system that’s delivered with an arched eyebrow.
Off-screen Williams is grounded, but her wardrobe is still sharp.
The 61-year-old, who is charming as much as she’s glowing in her blush pink Pamella Roland suit, says she has loved fashion from a young age. Her mother in the ‘70s would buy patterns and make her clothes, her grandmother used to crochet and she would buy tickets for the annual Ebony Traveling Fashion Fair.
Williams used to cut out images of the models from the fair and plaster them on her bedroom door. “I never wanted to be a fashion designer, but I always loved fashion,” she says.
Lately she’s been wearing a lot of her old pieces from the ‘90s.
“I’ve just been in my suits zone — they’re totally back and it’s much easier — now I get menswear. I’m feeling my empowerment,” Williams says.
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