Emily in Paris shares uncanny parallels with this iconic fashion movie, but with a twist

Emily in Paris is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of cities, lights, and chasing dreams. Along with all the glam, there’s also the struggle between career and personal life that never really goes away. The Darren Star show looks quite glossy on the outside, sharing a lot with a certain 2006 fashion movie. It is The Devil Wears Prada. Both take us into worlds where ambition is everything, but there’s always that question of what it actually costs to chase success.

The stories are told differently. The Devil Wears Prada is sharp and heavy. It is like a warning about what happens when your job swallows you. Emily in Paris is all bright and colorful. It is like something out of an Instagram reel. It makes ambition look playful and achievable. Even if Emily is stumbling her way through half of it.

At the end of the day though, both stories circle back to the same question. Can you hold on to your relationships, your values, your sense of self and still climb the ladder? Andy Sachs struggles to stay true to herself under Miranda Priestly while Emily Cooper bounces through French culture with inner motivation and positivity.

Emily in Paris and The Devil Wears Prada: When fashion meets real life

Emily in Paris is like a style book, with Emily always smiling and sparkling her way through life in the show. Despite, of course, her relationship bumps now and then. She always tries to remain positive in the face of failures and thinks she can somehow manage everything. Career is her utmost priority but love and friendship are also important. Even though things blow up at times, her attitude remains hopeful.

Andy in The Devil Wears Prada has a different vibe. She starts off clueless, too, but New York doesn’t treat her kindly. She has to deal with greater problems, or what seem like greater problems to her, as compared to Emily. She finds herself making her way through games of power and politics. She is also way stressed and has to make certain choices and sacrifices that are mostly against her will.

Watching Emily feels lighthearted but Andy's journey feels heavier. And it makes us question if success is really worth it. Is it worth cutting away pieces of yourself? That’s where the comparison gets really interesting. These are two women in two cities with the same ambition but totally opposite answers.

Ambition is not doomed in Emily in Paris. And that's kind of refreshing. Emily is not perfect. She messes up, offends clients, gets dumped, clashes with her boss but she does not get crushed by it. Instead, it makes her rise and grow further. Andy chooses herself and quits in the end. Emily is comparatively more resilient and hopeful in this regard. But of course, Andy's journey is marked with troubles. So her decision is understandable. Neither of them is wrong. They just speak to different dreams.

And that’s why both hit so hard. They reflect the same struggle we all feel. We all want to “make it,” but also want a life that feels good at the end of the day. The Devil Wears Prada warns us about ambition’s downside. Emily in Paris tells us to keep dreaming anyway.

And just so you know, a sequel to The Devil Wears Prada is set to arrive in May 2026, and Season 5 of Emily in Paris is on the way too. So both stories are still unfolding, and soon we’ll get to watch where they go next.

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