In a sequel built around image, status, and cultural fallout, The Devil Wears Prada 2 appears to have made its sharpest statement behind the camera.

Reports indicate director David Frankel chose a human artist to create an “AI-generated” meme featured in the film, a decision that has drawn immediate appreciation online. The setup lands neatly inside the movie’s premise: Runway Magazine faces backlash after a bad editorial call, and editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, becomes the target of a wave of memes. That framing gives the production’s off-screen choice extra bite. In a moment when studios and creatives keep clashing over automation, the sequel seems to understand the irony and lean into it.

What looks like a small production choice reads as a bigger signal: even a joke about AI still benefits from a human hand.

Key Facts

  • Reports say The Devil Wears Prada 2 hired a human artist to create an AI-themed meme for the film.
  • The sequel reportedly opens with Runway Magazine under fire after a poor editorial decision.
  • Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep, becomes the subject of circulating memes.
  • Director David Frankel has received praise for the choice, according to coverage.

The reaction makes sense. Fashion has always sold the illusion of effortless perfection while relying on intense, highly specific craft. This franchise knows that better than most. By choosing an artist instead of outsourcing the visual gag to a machine, the filmmakers preserve that tension rather than flatten it. The move also sidesteps a distraction that could have swallowed the joke itself: if audiences started debating whether the production used actual AI, the satire might have lost its edge.

That does not make the film an anti-tech manifesto, and the available reporting does not suggest it wants to be one. Instead, the choice feels precise and practical. It protects the creative process, keeps the production aligned with the story’s themes, and lets the meme function as storytelling rather than a real-world controversy. For a movie about taste, judgment, and reputational damage, that kind of discipline matters.

What happens next matters beyond one sequel. As studios chase speed and novelty, audiences and artists keep watching for signs of what the industry values when the joke turns serious. If The Devil Wears Prada 2 can turn a small design decision into a smart cultural signal, other productions may take note. In a business obsessed with what looks current, this may prove that the most modern choice still starts with a person.