One Elle of a contest

Anne Slowey and the cast of Stylista. Photo / Supplied

If the Devil Wears Prada was a reality show, it would probably be called Stylista, now screening Fridays on TV3. The makers of Project Runway and America's Next Top Model have brought us this peek at the world of high-end fashion, following desperate things vying for the coveted position of assistant to Anne Slowey, fashion news director of Elle magazine. Here the trend-setter submits to a few questions.

View: What exactly does a fashion news director do?

Slowey: I go to the shows. It's gruelling, you know. You're working from nine in the morning to two in the morning. Sitting around, getting backaches in chairs, watching a lot of not great fashion and then every now and then you have a brilliant moment. And then I distil the trends. I conceptualise stories for the reader. If you read the stories that I edit and write, we usually try to have a sense of humour about it.

V: Do you see yourself as more Miranda Priestly or more Donald Trump?

S: Just myself, or maybe Lucy from [the cartoon] Peanuts. I actually tried watching The Devil Wears Prada with my mother, who is 85, and she was like, 'I don't get this. Take it off'. I was like, 'But, Mom, that's my life!'

V: How would you describe yourself to someone who has never met you or doesn't know of you?

S: I'm a girl from Indiana who got really lucky and has had an opportunity to see the best that the world has had to offer. I mean, my life is a bit of a fantasy, but the hard work keeps it real. I feel very lucky and privileged, but I'm also very picky.

V: Is there an element of a hyperreality to Stylista?

S: Yes, but it's reality-based, too. My first day at Vogue, I had to go out and buy 32 goldfish and put them in 32 bowls and transport them to this woman's house without killing any of them. I went to Notre Dame (University); I have a degree in history. I sort of was like, 'What?' But, you know, I got a taste of the fact that these people were so eccentric and - well, that's our industry.

V: If you had a magic wand...

S: Actually, I have a magic megaphone.

V: How would you change the fashion industry?

S: I'd make it cheaper so more people could buy more stuff. It's become very corporate. Perhaps what I would do is wish that these giant companies might channel more money into schools for young designers and give them a chance. ...Yes, our assistants have access to big labels, but they also derive a lot of their tastes from the street and music and what they see going on around them in the art community. Fashion is only recently being taken seriously. I think everybody has had a tendency to look down on it for many, many years.

V: Do you take pride in being able to put on original designer outfits?

S: No. I have a budget. My life is glamorous only because of my job. On the weekends I wear flip-flops, jeans and T-shirts like everyone else. I have a few things hanging in my closet that cost a lot of money that I saved for and yeah, it gets me up in the morning. I'm glad I was not exposed to fashion at a young age...

* Stylista plays on TV3 Fridays at 7.30pm.