It is thought that Anna Wintour was the inspiration behind the demanding editor , Miranda Priestly , in the novel The Devil Wears Prada . When it was reported that the novelist 's editor told her to start her third novel over , Wintour 's spokesman suggested she `` should get a job as someone else 's assistant . '' Oppenheimer suggests The Devil Wears Prada may have done Wintour a favor by increasing her name recognition .