A TikTok video celebrating the glossy heyday of magazine fashion, a common plot point in early 2000s romcoms, has delighted viewers online.
Shared by Camila Larrain on December 11, the montage of her mother Karen’s career in the industry has racked up more than 445,000 views and over 102,000 likes, as viewers swoon over snapshots that feel straight out of The Devil Wears Prada or Gossip Girl.
“My mom worked in magazines for over 20 years,” Larrain, who is based in New York City, told Newsweek. “She originally started in fashion by covering someone’s maternity leave at Harper’s Bazaar as a fashion market assistant, which turned into a seven-year stint from 1992 through 1999.
“She then moved to Glamour, where she worked as a fashion market editor. During her time there, she got married and pregnant with me…After being home for about a year and missing the business, she returned to work at Cosmopolitan as the fashion market director, where she stayed for the next 10 years.”
The viral clip plays against KT Tunstall’s “Suddenly I See,” a song often associated with The Devil Wears Prada due to it playing over the movie’s introductory sequence.
“My mom’s BlackBerry camera roll was basically The Devil Wears Prada IRL [in real life],” the video’s overlaid text read.
The clip stitches together snapshots from digital cameras and early cellphones: Paris hotel rooms, stylized garments, runway fittings, designer pamphlets, and New York taxi stops.
The images span the mid-1990s through 2013, chronicling Karen’s time at Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan.
Thanks to her mom’s thriving career, fashion was woven into Larrain’s childhood.
“Throughout my early years, my mom would travel to Europe for two to three weeks every six months for the fall and spring show seasons, usually with a huge suitcase, and I would help her put together outfits while she packed,” Larrain said. “I vividly remember walking her down to her car and crying when she’d leave for the airport, wishing she could bring me along.”
Larrain’s memories extend beyond the runway and even include seeing A-listers like Katy Perry perform live at fashion events.
“I used to beg to skip school just to spend the day at the Hearst Tower,” Camila recalled. “I loved looking through the racks of clothes and shelves of makeup in the fashion and beauty closets, and I would often leave with a bag full of the newest lip glosses, shampoos, or blushes.
“I saw Katy Perry perform ‘Firework’ for the first time after my mom smuggled me into the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in 2010.”
The idea to share the images online came during a recent house move, when the old pictures resurfaced.
“We recently moved apartments for the first time in 18 years…and while unpacking, we came across old photo albums, BlackBerrys, early iPhones, fashion show invitations, and her old articles and magazine pages,” Larrain said. “We thought it would be fun to put all of these mementos together into a video.”
The response from viewers exceeded expectations.
As Larrain put it, she and her mother were “blown away” by the positive responses.
“It was really special to see how nostalgic and entertaining it was for people, and we hoped it served as a bit of an escape,” she said.
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