The September Issue is a 2009 American documentary film about the behind-the-scenes drama that follows editor-in-chief Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour, OBE is the British-born editor-in-chief of American Vogue, a position she has held since 1988. With her trademark pageboy bob haircut and sunglasses, Wintour has become an institution throughout the fashion world, widely praised for her eye for fashion trends and her support for...

 and her staff during the production of the September 2007 issue of American Vogue magazine

Vogue (magazine)

Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...

. The film is directed by R.J. Cutler

R.J. Cutler

R. J. Cutler is a television- and filmmaker. He specializes in film documentaries and "serious reality TV". He was educated at Harvard University and graduated in 1983; he also attended the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts....

 and produced by Eliza Hindmarch and Sadia Shepard

Sadia Shepard

Sadia Shepard is a Pakistani American filmmaker and author based in New York City. She is the author of The Girl from Foreign: A Search for Shipwrecked Ancestors, Lost Loves, and a Sense of Home, which was published by The Penguin Press in 2008...

.

The movie was released in American theaters on August 28, 2009. It was released in Australia on August 20, 2009 after being screened at numerous film festivals including Sundance, Zurich, Silverdocs and Sheffield Doc/Fest.

Plot

The film revolves around the making of the Vogue September 2007 issue. It depicts the effort that goes into making the magazine, and the passion that Grace Coddington

Grace Coddington

Grace Coddington is a former model and the creative director of American Vogue magazine.-Early life and modeling career:Coddington was born on April 14, 1941 to hotelier parents on the island of Anglesey, Wales...

, a former model turned creative director and the only person who dares to stand up to Anna Wintour, has for the highly-regarded fashion magazine. In the film, Coddington is often portrayed as the leading victim to Wintour's aggressive personality. However, the relationship between Wintour and Coddington reveals itself to be symbiotic as Wintour recognizes Coddington's expertise and keen eye for design. In the end, Wintour approves most of Coddington's ideas and they appear in the final version of the September issue.

Notable fashion icons

The film features appearances by many well-known and influential people in the fashion industry, from top editorial models to noted fashion photographers and designers.

Designers

• Thakoon Panichgul
• Oscar de la Renta
  Oscar de la Renta
  Oscar de la Renta is one of the world's leading fashion designers. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1973.-Career:...
  
  
• Jean-Paul Gaultier
  Jean-Paul Gaultier
  Jean Paul Gaultier , born 24 April 1952 in Arcueil, Val-de-Marne, France) is a French haute couture fashion designer. Gaultier was the creative director of Hermès from 2003 to 2010. In the past, he has hosted the television series Eurotrash....
  
  
• Nicolas Ghesquière
  Nicolas Ghesquière
  Nicolas Ghesquière is a fashion designer and is currently creative director for the house of Balenciaga owned by the Gucci Group . He grew up in Loudun, Vienne....
  
  
• Stefano Pilati
  Stefano Pilati
  Stefano Pilati is an Italian fashion designer. Since 2002, he has been the head designer of the fashion house Yves Saint Laurent.-Career:...
  
  
• Karl Lagerfeld
  Karl Lagerfeld
  Karl Lagerfeld is a German fashion designer, artist and photographer based in Paris. He has collaborated on a variety of fashion and art related projects, most notably as head designer and creative director for the fashion house Chanel...
  
  
• Jane Thompson
  Jane Thompson
  Jane Thompson, AICP, Hon. AIA, principal of Thompson Design Group, is an urbanist, designer and planner, whose work over forty years has touched cities in North America and around the world.Ms...
  
  
• Isabel Toledo
  Isabel Toledo
  Isabel Toledo is a Cuban-American fashion designer based in New York.-Personal life:Isabel Toledo was born in Cuba and moved to New Jersey where she attended high school and met her future husband and collaborator, Ruben Toledo...
  
  
• Vera Wang
  Vera Wang
  Vera Ellen Wang is a Chinese American fashion designer based in New York City and former figure skater. She is known for her wide clientele of couture bridesmaid gowns and wedding gown collections.-Personal life:...
  
  
• John Galliano
  John Galliano
  John Charles Galliano CBE, RDI is a Gibraltan-born British fashion designer who was best known as head designer of French haute couture houses Givenchy and Christian Dior , and his own self titled fashion house.-Family:He was born in Gibraltar to a Gibraltarian father, Juan Galliano, and a...
  
  

Models

• Coco Rocha
  Coco Rocha
  Coco Rocha is a Canadian fashion model.- Personal life :Rocha was born in Toronto, Ontario, and moved to Richmond and attended McRoberts secondary school, British Columbia at a very young age. Her family is in the airline industry. Her mother, Juanita, is a flight attendant and her father, Trevor...
  
  
• Caroline Trentini
  Caroline Trentini
  Caroline Trentini , also known as Carol Trentini, is a Brazilian fashion model.- Early life :...
  
  
• Daria Werbowy
  Daria Werbowy
  Daria Werbowy is a Ukrainian Canadian model. She is perhaps best known as a spokesperson for the French beauty brand Lancôme.-Personal life:...
  
  
• Raquel Zimmerman
• Hilary Rhoda
  Hilary Rhoda
  Hilary Hollis Rhoda is an American model. She is perhaps best known for her work with the brand Estée Lauder and her 2009, 2010, and 2011 appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.-Early life:...
  
  
• Chanel Iman
  Chanel Iman
  Chanel Iman Robinson , known professionally as Chanel Iman, is an American fashion model perhaps best known for her work for Victoria's Secret.-Early life:...
  
  

Others

• Hamish Bowles
  Hamish Bowles
  Hamish Bowles is the European Editor at Large for Vogue and involved in the worlds of fashion and interior design.- Background :As the European Editor at Large for Vogue, Hamish Bowles is recognized as one of the most respected authorities on the worlds of fashion and interior design. After...
  
  
• Edward Enninful
  Edward Enninful
  Edward Enninful is a British fashion stylist, and current Fashion and Style-Director of W magazine.-Early life:Edward Enninful was born in Ghana, but at a very young age, moved to Ladbroke Grove, London, along with his parents and six siblings...
  
  
• Si Newhouse
• André Leon Talley
  André Leon Talley
  André Leon Talley is the former American editor-at-large for Vogue magazine, listed as Contributing Editor in the April 2010 masthead. Talley has been a front-row regular at fashion shows in New York, Paris, London and Milan for more than 25 years...
  
  
• Robert Verdi
  Robert Verdi
  Robert Verdi is an American TV personality and style expert. He is most noted for hosting a variety of TV programs featuring fashion and interior design.-Early life:...
  
  
• Sienna Miller
  Sienna Miller
  Sienna Rose Diana Miller is a British-American actress, model, and fashion designer, best known for her roles in Layer Cake, Alfie, Factory Girl, The Edge of Love and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In 2007, the London Film Criticsnamed her British Actress of the Year for Interview...
  
  

Critical reception

The film received generally favorable reviews. It held a positive rating of 84% on Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

, as well as a weighted average score of 69 out of 100 on Metacritic

Metacritic

Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

.

Demand for namesake

Due to the popularity of the film, the September 2007 issue of Vogue that was documented in the film has peaked to prices between $80 and $115 on eBay

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

, making it one of the most sought after Vogue magazines ever.