Luxury, publishing face structural crisis as 'Devil Wears Prada' returns

The return of 'The Devil Wears Prada' sequel coincides with a structural transformation in luxury, publishing, and digital platforms. In Q1 2025, LVMH's Fashion & Leather Goods division (including Louis Vuitton and Dior) saw declining sales. Kering, owner of Gucci, Saint Laurent, and Balenciaga, reported a 16% revenue drop and 46% net profit decline in H1 2025; Gucci sales fell 26%. Analysts cite the erosion of aspirational consumption and the difficulty of maintaining exclusivity in an image-saturated market. Publishing faces deeper change: according to Agcom, Italian newspaper circulation fell to 430 million copies in 2025, down 8.1% year-on-year and 30.6% from 2021; print copies dropped 32.6% over the same period. Condé Nast (Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ, Wired) restructured in 2020, eliminating national director roles for a global model under Anna Wintour. Brands now communicate directly via Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and proprietary platforms; creators bypass traditional media; generative AI further transforms content production. The article argues that the cultural authority once held by a few institutions to define taste and relevance is now distributed across digital platforms, algorithms, and online communities.