Closing Down the City for Fashion
Milan agreed to something unusual this spring: shutting down its most iconic shopping arcade, sections of its fashion district, and one of its foremost art institutions so cameras could roll for The Devil Wears Prada 2. The sequel shifts much of its action from Manhattan to Milan during fashion week, and the production needed the real thing.
Italian line producer Enrico Ballarin, whose credits include work on Cyrano and Black Doves, led the Italian side of the shoot. He says the city's cooperation surprised him. "The response from the Milanese public was more than willing," he notes. Residents and business owners helped their city shine on screen, even when it meant closing streets and staying quiet at odd hours.
The logistics were substantial. One night shoot at the Accademia di Brera required a cast and crew of 600 people working into the early morning. Another scene in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II happened at 2:30 a.m. with a skeleton crew, a drone, and natural light to capture Meryl Streep walking through the empty arcade.
An Art School Becomes a Runway Venue
The Accademia di Brera, founded centuries ago and still Milan's leading art school, hosts one of the film's set pieces: a fashion show where Lady Gaga performs. The location also houses the Pinacoteca di Brera, a museum holding Italian art from the 13th through 20th centuries.
Ballarin chose the Brera for two reasons. First, its cultural weight. It is a center for creativity in Milan, and that reputation mattered for a scene about fashion and performance. Second, its size. The compound had enough room for wardrobe, hair, makeup teams, and multiple interior filming locations. It could also be closed to the public, which kept Gaga's new song under wraps until the premiere.
The shoot took three nights. The Brera sits in Milan's bohemian quarter, a district of casual bars, students, and a botanical garden. Visitors can tour the Pinacoteca during the day. Nearby, the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie holds Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper in its refectory; a replica appears in the film.
The Galleria and a 2:30 a.m. Walk
The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, with its glass and iron dome and boutiques from Prada, Gucci, and Armani, is hard to miss. Streep filmed a scene there alone, walking through the arcade in the middle of the night. A small crew walked over from the Palazzo Parigi hotel, ten minutes away, without alerting the rest of the production.
The choice of time was deliberate. At 2:30 a.m., the galleria is empty and quiet. The crew used a drone and available light. The result is a cinematic moment that would be impossible to recreate during business hours, when the arcade fills with shoppers and tourists.
During Milan Fashion Week, the galleria's boutiques attract crowds of editors and influencers trying on clothes before shows. Inside, Marchesi 1824, a historic pastry shop, serves morning espresso and candied almonds. From the roof of the nearby Duomo, you can see the brutalist Torre Velasca tower rising above the city.
Restaurants Where the Industry Eats
Il Salumaio di Montenapoleone, a family restaurant open for more than 50 years, appears in a lunch scene with Donatella Versace. It sits on Via Santo Spirito, close to the Four Seasons Hotel and a short walk from Via Montenapoleone, one of the world's most expensive shopping streets.
The restaurant has a shaded courtyard with white tablecloths, and its Instagram archive shows decades of celebrity guests. Ballarin says it was chosen for its discreet atmosphere and its reputation. Fashion insiders know the spot, and that authenticity mattered.
Stanley Tucci, who plays Nigel, recommended another nearby restaurant, Bice, to the cast and crew. He also pointed them toward Il Baretto Milano and Ristorante Ratanà. Milan has a strong tradition of family-run restaurants serving risotto and cotoletta alla Milanese, and these places reflect that.
For coffee, Caffè-Pasticceria Cova on Via Montenapoleone is a classic stop. The bar is old and formal, the kind of place where editors take an afternoon break between appointments.
A Villa Outside the City
Villa Arconati, half an hour from Milan in the village of Castellazzo di Bollate, dates to medieval times and has been rebuilt and expanded over the centuries. It has been compared to Versailles for its size and formal gardens. The Augusto Rancilio Foundation preserves the villa and opens it to the public on Sundays and for private events during the week.
The production used the villa for what Ballarin calls motion sequences: scenes of the Runway team moving through fashion shows, presentations, and parties. The villa's many elegant rooms were edited together to suggest different Milan locations. One standout is the trompe-l'œil staircase, a painted illusion that looks three-dimensional.
Back in the city, Villa Necchi Campiglio, a 1930s Art Deco house designed by architect Piero Portaluppi, is another landmark. Locals call it Villa Nikki. It appeared in an earlier Italian film starring Lady Gaga.
Lake Como and Wedding Venue Logistics
Lake Como, an hour and a half from Milan by car, is known for weddings and luxury holidays. Emily Blunt married John Krasinski there in 2010, so the cast had history with the location. Ballarin scouted the lake several times before choosing Villa Balbiano, primarily a wedding venue, for the home of a tech billionaire character.
The villa's weekend schedule was full, so the crew had to film between weddings. The lake itself is lined with notable properties. Gianni Versace's former house, now privately owned, sits on the water. Villa D'Este, a hotel that hosted the Chanel cruise show last year, is another landmark. The Ponte della Civera, a bridge where locals jump into the lake, also appears in the film.
Wooden Venetian boats offer sunset tours of the lake, passing these landmarks and others. The mountain roads leading to Como are scenic but winding, and the drive takes patience.
What the Production Left Behind
The film required cooperation from hotel staff, restaurant owners, museum directors, and city officials. The Palazzo Parigi hotel, where much of the cast stayed, remained open to guests throughout filming. Its wide street, large lobby, and grand staircase made it practical for shooting. Some staff appeared as extras.
One detail in the film is not accurate: the Tiffany boutique shown across from the hotel is actually a 15-minute walk away on Via Montenapoleone. The boutique has a pale blue cafe inside. The hotel rooms in the film were also set recreations, not the actual suites guests book.
Ballarin credits his success to trust from directors and his knowledge of Italian locations. For The Devil Wears Prada 2, he wanted to show Milan and Italy at their best. The city's willingness to shut down landmarks and work around tight schedules made that possible. The result is a film that uses real places, not just backlot recreations, to tell its story about fashion, ambition, and the industry's European heart.
