Anna Wintour: Bigger than Madonna?

Anna Wintour: Bigger than Madonna?

America's fashion fixtures fete the New York debut of The September Issue

Thursday, August 20, 2009

(NEW YORK) "There's nobody like her! She's the best!" boomed Donald Trump as he grabbed Anna Wintour. The editrix was downright chummy Wednesday evening, as fashion's hautest stars gathered at the MoMA to celebrate the Maybelline-sponsored New York premiere of R.J. Cutler's The September Issue. Posing alongside Andre Leon Talley, his velvet electric purple slippers and Thakoon-clad covergirl, Sienna Miller, Wintour worked her printed Prada frock for the paparazzi. Generally pleased with the documentary, Condé's reigning empress gave due credit to costar (or perhaps, leading lady?) Grace Coddington. "I've always had the utmost respect for everything that she does," Wintour said. "My Vogue could not exist without Grace."

Coddington, who famously fled the film crews for the first few months of filming, was ultimately pleased with her decision to participate. The creative director, who appeared sans partner and co-author Didier Malige, revealed that her cats will not be privy to a screening. "I haven't let them see it because my Bart was in it--he was filmed, but they cut him out. So I'm a bit upset."

Members of the Vogue crew weren't the only red-carpet features. The always-cheeky Marc Jacobs lit up the room with bedazzled Louis Vuitton shoes and soon-to-be husband Lorenzo Martone.

Such American icons as Oscar, Vera and Donna took turns posing for pictures, and their praise of Wintour flowed freely. "I don't think that there has ever been an editor in chief of any magazine ever who has done the kind of work that Anna has been doing for many many years. She's brought that particular job to another level," said the flawless Mr. de la Renta before entering the theater with Carolina Herrera on his arm.

Sean "Diddy" Combs closed the red carpet festivities after discussing his intimate bond with the woman of the hour. "We're both crazy in a positive way. She probably doesn't know, it but I've adopted her as a godmother to me in fashion. She was the first one who took me to the shows in Paris. She's the one who's always treated me like a designer. And when she was reviewing my collections, she told me the truth about what was right and wrong."

After a packed screening and roaring applause, guests gathered in the MoMA lobby for a post-party to sip champagne and discuss the flick. The likes of Hillary Rhoda, Tory Burch, Phillip Lim and Helen Schifter were served hors d'oeuvres from glass-covered Vogue magazines by waiters sporting Fashion's Night Out tees. Anna was mysteriously missing (The Daily hears the woman of the hour decamped to Monkey Bar with Talley), but her aspiring-lawyer daughter, Bee Shaffer, easily filled in and entertained chatty guests in her purple Proenza frock.

Thakoon Panichgul, a "main character" in The September Issue, stood by his on-screen affirmation that Anna is "like Madonna." "Anna is much more than Madonna now," he cooed. "I think she's bigger than Madonna!" Jason Wu later joined in on the love-fest. "I think she came off real," he declared. "Authentic. The film showed a different side of her that I think is great."

More candid than his peers, Zac Posen thought the film was "fabulous." But before resuming his chat with Jessica Joffe, he added, "I thought it had lots of truths, lots of lies."

As the evening came to a close, director Culter could finally relax. "The response was terrific," he said with a smile. "This is an audience that knows the subject of this film better than any audience we'll ever screen it for. And for them to have laughed with such gusto at the funny moments and gotten so intensely involved in the more serious moments as they were was very gratifying. And the response at the end of the film was....what you'd hope for." When asked to name Grace or Anna as the film's most fascinating character, the director laughed. "Their relationship is the star!" KATHARINE ZARRELLA

*credits* Fashion week daily