Grace Coddington, Vogue's Creative Director and surprise star of the documentary 'The September Issue,' spoke to Vogue.com about her reluctant role in the film, and her at times combative collaboration with Anna Wintour.
On why she decided to do the movie, despite her reluctance:
I really wasn't given an option, and I guess R.J. [Cutler, the director] noticed I was the only one who argued. I was even a bit spiky with them. And they wanted that dynamic. I still didn't want to do it. It's not what I do, but I gave in.
On the comparisons of her and Anna Wintour's relationship to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards':
What I want to know is which one's me. Anna's the leader like Mick. I guess I'm Keith because I'm wrinkled. Seriously, though, a lot of people say Anna's the business one and I'm the creative one. It's not true. She's the creative one. So many of the shoots I do start with her ideas. She was the creative director of Vogue before I was, after all. I also believe that everyone needs an editor. What she does is edit and make my work stronger.
On her favorite part of the film:
[m] very favorite scene is when Raquel [Zimmermann, the model] was eating pies at the couture. She kept looking at them and saying she wanted one, while we were lacing her into this tiny corset and reminding her she wouldn't fit if she ate one. So she didn't eat them. . . . and she didn't eat them. Then when the shoot was over she ate, like, a whole pie! It's a funny scene, and she looks absolutely beautiful.
Photo: Didier Malige