Twenty years after Miranda Priestly first terrorized a newsroom and redefined what fashion cinema could be, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is arriving, and Milan is feeling it before the lights even dim.
From April 14th through May 4th, Rinascente Milano, the storied luxury department store anchoring Piazza Duomo in the heart of the city, devoted its entire flagship to the most anticipated fashion film in years, produced by Wendy Finerman, directed by David Frankel, and released on April 29th by 20th Century Studios under Disney. The immersive retail experience, conceived over seven months in close collaboration between Rinascente and Disney, transformed the store's façade, windows, portico, elevators, and escalators into a living extension of the film's universe, landing at a moment when Milan was already primed, with Design Week drawing the world's attention to the city and its twin obsessions: fashion and design. At its center, the experience honored the cultural weight of the original 2006 film starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci, while building anticipation for the sequel that a global audience has been waiting two decades to see.
Rinascente Builds a Living Set Across Every Floor
The most arresting element greets you at the entrance: two monumental sculptures of red décolleté shoes, nearly four meters tall, created in collaboration with artist Stefano Seletti. Unmistakable and unapologetic, they set the tone for everything that follows inside. The lower level opens into a red catwalk winding through the editorial universe of Runway magazine, dressed by the film's own editorial team, moving from Miranda Priestly's office through to the famous closet that became one of cinema's most referenced spaces. The installation stretches across every corner of the store, from the façade and windows to the portico, elevators, and escalators, creating a continuous visual narrative that pulls visitors deeper into the world of the film with every floor.
In the Air Snake area, a dedicated corner hosts a selection of luxury brands for the closet section, sitting alongside the film's sponsor partners including Samsung, Starbucks, Dyson, Moët & Chandon, and L'Oréal, all integrated into the display and experiential spaces. The result reads like a curated environment where fashion, cinema, and design collapse into one another, which is precisely the point.
