Miranda Priestly

Miranda Priestly (born Miriam Princhek; October 25, 1949) is a character in Lauren Weisberger's 2003 novel The Devil Wears Prada, portrayed by Meryl Streep in the 2006 film adaptation of the novel. She is the powerful New York City–based editor-in-chief of the fictional fashion magazine Runway. She is known as much for her icy demeanor and diva attitude as for her outstanding power within the fashion world. Fictional biography Miranda Priestly was born Miriam Princhek on October 25, 1949, in London’s East End. Her family were poor but devout Orthodox Jews, who relied on the community for support because her father worked odd jobs and her mother died in childbirth. Miriam's grandmother moved in with the family to assist in raising the children. Miriam saved the small bills that her siblings would give her and worked as an assistant to a British designer. She made a name for herself in London's fashion world and studied French at night and was made junior editor of Chic magazine in Paris. When she was twenty-four, Miriam changed her name to Miranda Priestly and replaced her rough accent with a sophisticated one. Miranda spent ten years at French Runway before Elias-Clark transferred her to American Runway. She, her twin daughters, and her husband moved to a penthouse apartment on Fifth Avenue and 76th Street. She is the editor-in-chief of Runway, a very chic and influential fashion magazine published by the Elias-Clark company. She is known for wearing a white Hermès scarf with her everyday outfit, and treating her subordinates in a manner that borders on emotional and psychological abuse. While she reminds employees "a million girls would kill for this job", Priestly's cruel treatment of staff causes a high turnover rate among personal assistants; the focus of her characterization in the book and the film being her newest assistant, recent journalism graduate Andrea Sachs.