The Devil Wears Prada’s real-life Emily is revealed to be Nicola Peltz’s wedding dress stylist – as she says author Lauren Weisberger’s book ‘felt like a betrayal’

It has been revealed that the woman who inspired Emily Blunt’s character in The Devil Wears Prada is Nicola Peltz’s wedding dress stylist, Leslie Fremar.

Leslie worked as first assistant to former Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, working alongside assistant Lauren Weisberger, who went on to write the best-selling novel The Devil Wears Prada about her time there.

Leslie, now one of Hollywood’s most sought-after stylists, spoke with Vogue’s Head of Editorial Content, Chloe Malle. Transition podcastMeanwhile, he claimed that Emily Charlton, played by Blunt in the film, was his inspiration.

‘I know I am. “I’m Emily,” she said.

In the 2006 film, based on Weisberger’s novel, Emily is a highly irascible and short-tempered first assistant to the editor-in-chief of Miranda Priestly’s New York-based Runway magazine, a fictional Vogue-inspired fashion bible.

From the opening scene, the villain Emily adopts a condescending attitude towards the film’s protagonist, Andy Sachs, played by Anne Hathaway, and eventually falls out of favor with Priestly as Sachs’s editorial career begins.

Leslie, who helped supply Nicola Peltz’s Valentino wedding dress for her wedding to Brooklyn Beckham, also said one of the film’s most famous lines was a direct quote from her.

Leslie spoke to Vogue’s Chloe Malle on the Run-Through podcast and claimed that Emily Charlton, played by Emily Blunt, was an inspiration for the film.

‘I told him for sure that a million girls would kill for this,’ he said. ‘It was definitely my idea because I really believed in it and I knew she didn’t necessarily want to be there.’

‘Even though someone had advised him to make it fiction, it was actually based on a lot of things that I had experienced, that he had experienced.’

Weisberger worked as an assistant at Vogue for only eight months, and Leslie said they were not friendly outside the office. He also felt that the future writer did not take the fashion business as seriously as he did.

‘I probably wasn’t very nice and I was probably nervous because I felt like I had to do his job too,’ she said.

‘So for me it was really frustrating. I think he was probably sitting there writing a book and wasn’t taking it as seriously as I was.’

Leslie said Weisberger’s book ‘felt like a betrayal’ and that she never saw or spoke to him again after he left Vogue. He also thinks it would be “weird” if the two crossed paths again.

Raised in Toronto, Canada, Leslie moved to the United States to pursue a career in the fashion industry and enrolled as a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.

But her eventual role as Anna Wintour’s assistant at US Vogue came about purely by chance, she says.

“I interned in the accessories department when I enrolled there, so when I first got here that got me in the door — but I didn’t know anyone other than my sister, my roommate from Toronto, and a few other Canadians,” she told Into The Gloss.

‘I felt like a fish out of water because I didn’t grow up in New York or the culture and I didn’t know anyone.

‘Then I got a job as Anna Wintour’s assistant at American Vogue, which was pure luck. It took a lot of time to figure it out and some sink or swim moments, but it was amazing.’

Leslie worked as first assistant to former Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, alongside Lauren Weisberger (pictured), who wrote The Devil Wears Prada about her time there.

She added: ‘I worked for Anna for three years, then worked in Tonne Goodman’s fashion department for a further two years. They were very generous and allowed me to go on trips with them to see if styling was what I really wanted to do.

‘Then when I was 27 I started freelancing and have been doing that ever since. I still do editorial shoots and commercials now, but most of my job is collaborating on the look of the awards season circuit.’

Leslie is now one of the fashion industry’s most sought-after stylists, and her work is regularly showcased on the red carpet at events such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards, and Academy Awards.

‘My clients are mostly in Los Angeles and New York, so that means a lot of travel,’ he explained. ‘There are so many shows these days that they all take about six months of work.

‘I’m quite proud of the work we did last season; I nominated two of my clients and they probably had 55 views each. ‘I can’t pick a favorite but I’m very proud of the work we did.’

Leslie served as Nicola Peltz’s favorite stylist for over a decade and was a leading member of the team responsible for curating her wedding day look.

Leslie is now one of the fashion industry’s most sought-after stylists, and her work is regularly showcased on the red carpet at events such as the Golden Globes and Academy Awards.

Weisberger wrote an essay for Vogue in which she recalled writing The Devil Wears Prada at the age of 23 and being completely unprepared for the global phenomenon it became.

‘This was not an attempt to take anyone down or exact some form of revenge,’ he wrote.

‘I was writing something that stayed true to my experience as a very close assistant to a powerful woman who filled me with terrible fear; Before, I didn’t have the distance, maturity or sense of self-preservation to complete the edges.’

He added: ‘If I were to write The Devil Wears Prada today it would undoubtedly be different. Not necessarily softer, but more layered. I have more empathy now; for assistants and bosses, for 20-somethings trying to prove themselves, and for those who’ve already made it.’

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is scheduled to be released on May 1, 2026, marking exactly 20 years since the original film took audiences behind the opulent yet cutthroat world of luxury fashion.

The sequel stars Runway editor Miranda Priestly (Streep) as she competes against Emily, her former assistant turned rival executive, for advertising revenue at a time when print media is declining, as Priestly nears retirement.

Emily is now a powerful executive of a luxury group with the advertising dollars that Miranda desperately needs.