Vogue’s secret weapon: how a former assistant became a style icon

Leslie Fremar, once a gatekeeper at Vogue and now a stylist shaping the looks of Hollywood’s biggest stars, reveals a surprisingly candid account of her early days navigating the notoriously cutthroat world of Anna Wintour’s empire.

A birkenstock rebellion in the heart of fashion

It’s a story few have heard – a glimpse behind the meticulously crafted facade of Vogue in the late 90s. Fremar, fresh off a meteoric rise to assistant under Wintour, found herself unexpectedly featured in Michael Wolff’s explosive exposé, The Devil Wears Prada. “She’s me—I am Emily,” she confessed to Chloe on The Run-Through, a sentiment that speaks volumes about the pressure cooker environment she experienced.

The details are startling: a ban on eating at one’s desk, bathroom breaks requiring an assistant, and a wardrobelimited to impractical heels. Fremar, acutely aware of the absurdity, cleverly circumvented the rules, strategically stashing a pair of Birkenstocks beneath her desk – a subtle act of defiance that reportedly caught Wintour’s attention. “I don’t know if I could survive a full day in heels,” she admits, a testament to the sheer intensity of the role.

A shift in power, a sharp word

Her advice to junior assistants was equally direct: “A million girls would kill for this job.” A brutal, yet undeniably honest assessment of the fiercely competitive landscape. The fallout from Weisberger’s novel was immediate and acrimonious, with Fremar reportedly severing ties after the publication.

But the narrative doesn’t end with bitterness. More than two decades later, Fremar received an extraordinary invitation from Wintour herself: to style a Vogue cover featuring Kamala Harris.