The adjective in my head after "The September Issue" ...

As Fashion Week is looming, I'm organizing a group of out-of-town friends, and we'll find some two-hour hole in the schedule and duck over to Empire 25, an easy walk from Bryant Park, to see The September Issue. This will be my second viewing -- a friend and I caught it opening night at Landmark in SoHo amid what was clearly a fashion-savvy audience (even an icy pause from Anna drew laughter, not from her action, but in our shared sympathy of knowing what it's like to be on the receiving end of such a moment, whether the editor is Anna -- or more likely not). But with Fashion Week about to kick off, here's the thought I can't help but wonder: I walked away from September Issue liking Anna more than I thought I might -- not merely for revealing the warmth beneath the steely veneer, but especially because the movie exposes equally and graciously both her deep well of talent and her fearless command. And Grace Coddington? Well, Grace has always been a hero, but largely to fashion insiders -- she is the field general while Anna is Patton, George C. Scott standing in front of the giant American flag (insert symbolism here). With all that in mind, and given the rhapsodic reaction to the film, I'll be keeping an eye out in the tents to see whether the invisible wall that prevents people from approaching Anna will remain so impenetrable. Not unlike any documentary or reality show -- though she surely would shudder at the latter notion -- don't we all think we know Anna a bit more now? By throwing open the doors to the inner sanctum, has she torn down the walls around her front-row seat as well? It's highly unlikely, but a delightful and entertaining exercise nonetheless as we wait for shows to begin.

Finally, that adjective -- it's a simple one: Inspired. Watching Grace work simply inspired me. Sure, bottomless-pit budgets are the most heavenly and enviable of luxuries, especially these days, but I still took away lessons about the adjectives she employs, like "artful" and "cinematic," on a daily basis, and roll them around in my head as I'm planning work in the future. Ultimately, September Issue wasn't an expose about the meanest of all Mean Girls or the perils of putting together the most fabled issue of all fashion magazines. Rather, it was simply about inspiring me to raise my game just a bit more as well.