Hollywood star Meryl Streep has taken a swipe at First Lady Melania Trump’s clothing choices while promoting the highly anticipated sequel to her blockbuster film The Devil Wears Prada.

Streep reprises her role as demanding, sharp-tongued fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestley in the new movie, which is set to open in Australian cinemas on April 30.

The original 2006 film is considered iconic in terms of both its fashion and female “boss energy”, and when the topic of style arose in a recent conversation between the actor and former Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, Streep didn’t pull any punches.

Naming several political figures she said proved women did not have to wear a suit to be powerful, Wintour – who appears with Streep on the cover of the latest issue of Vogue – added that Melania Trump was someone who “always looks like herself when she dresses”.

Streep responded that she had “so many thoughts about this”.

“I think the most… powerful message that our current first lady sent was in the coat that said ‘I Really Don’t Care, Do U?’ when she was going to see migrant children who were incarcerated.

“All dress is about expressing yourself, but we’re also subject to larger historical and political sweeps of expectation.”

The actor’s comment was a reference to a coat that Melania Trump wore in 2018 while visiting a children’s shelter in Texas where some of the residents had been separated from their families by President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown.

It sparked a social media storm at the time, although the First Lady later claimed the coat’s message was actually aimed at her own critics – including the “left-wing media”.

Melania Trump wore the controversial coat while visiting a children’s centre in 2018. Photo: AP

During the Vogue conversation, which was moderated by filmmaker and actor Greta Gerwig, Streep also pointed out the double standards of gendered fashion.

“I’m stunned at how women in power have to have bare arms on television while men are covered in shirts and ties or a suit,” she said.

“There’s an apology built into women. They have to show their smallness.

“It’s compensatory: The advancements of women in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of this one have been destabilising.

“It’s as if women have to say, ‘I’m little. I can’t walk in these shoes. I can’t run. I’m bare, not threatening’.”

Style and the fashion industry were central themes of The Devil Wears Prada, which was based on a 2003 novel of the same name by American writer Lauren Weisberger, who had briefly worked at Vogue as an assistant to Wintour.

The 2006 film was filled with “iconic fashion moments” and “had an influence on pop culture that reached far beyond the industry”, according to Harpers Bazaar.

Well-suited: Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway return in The Devil Wears Prada 2. Photo: 20th Century Studios

The Devil Wears Prada 2 sees Runway magazine editor Miranda  reunite with former junior staffer Andy (Hathaway) to face off against her one-time personal assistant and now rival Emily (Emily Blunt) in a media landscape where print publications are declining.

Streep and Hathaway have been creating more iconic fashion moments on the global press tour for the film, which began on April 1 in Mexico City, where Streep rocked a red Dolce & Gabbana suit and Hathaway work a black fringed Schiaparelli two-piece ensemble with a sculptural gold belt.

“We are kicking off The Devil Wears Prada tour here today at Frida Kahlo’s house,” Hathaway’s stylist Erin Walsh shared in an Instagram post.

“We’re doing a tour, so to honour that we chose a very surrealist Schiaparelli vibe… it really taps into that art is fashion idea.”

While in Mexico City, the film’s female leads also took part in a a fashion show at the Anahuacalli Museum as part of their promotional duties.

Hathaway walked the runway in a pink sparkly Stella McCartney mini-dress and thigh-high black boots that Marie Claire suggested were “perhaps a wink to the film’s immortal ‘are you wearing the Chanel boots?’ line”.

@devilwearspradamovieAnne Hathaway and Meryl Streep moving to the music at the Mexico City Fan Event. The Devil Wears Prada 2, only in theaters May 1.♬ original sound – The Devil Wears Prada 2

As the tour took them to Tokyo this week, Streep stepped out a red, white and black Chanel outfit by designer Matthieu Blazy, while Hathaway wore a Valentino gown in complementary colours.

Walsh told Vogue she aimed to spark joy with her designs for Hathaway, but that they were also empowering.

“If there’s one word for the whole tour, it’s ‘supernova’,” she said.

“If you look at all the major houses that have these new [designers] leading them, there’s this idea of leaning into joy, and clothes that make you feel like the supernova version of yourself.

“It’s going to be joyful, irreverent, empowering, confident — and strong.”

Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci both return in The Devil Wears Prada 2. Photo: 20th Century Studios

Stanley Tucci – who played Runway‘s art director Nigel in the original film – is among the other returning stars in The Devil Wears Prada 2, which is penned by original writer Aline Brosh McKenna and sees David Frankel returns as director

Newcomers in the cast include Kenneth Branagh (as Miranda’s husband), Lucy Liu, Lady Gaga and Australian Patrick Brammall (Colin From Accounts).

A new trailer released this week by 20^th Century Studios has further heightened fans’ anticipation for the sequel.

“So, I used to have your job,” Andy, who was an aspiring journalist in the original film, says to Bridgerton actor Simone Ashley, who appears to be Miranda’s new assistant.

“I got to go to Paris Fashion Week. Wore a bunch of pieces for the Chanel collection that year.”

“Do you still have all of it?” asks Ashley’s character.

“No, I gave it away… would have been a bit much for a newsroom,” Andy replies, as she is ushered into a crammed and messy office, presumably within the Runway building.

The new trailer features the original song Runway, performed by Lady Gaga and American rapper Doechii, and sees Miranda reveal that Andy has been brought in to help the magazine through its “current scandal”.

The pair still clearly have a prickly relationship, with Miranda criticising Andy’s clothing choices and shutting a car door on her outside a New York subway station while suggesting: “Why don’t you take the train, dear”.

“I’m so excited, I can’t even deal,” gushed a fan on a social media post in which 20^th Century Studios shared the trailer.

“Trending & setting soundtrack trends!” wrote another.

While not everyone was won over by the tease, some fans were thrilled to see the iconic characters return. “’May the bridges I burn light my way.’ sooo Emily,” declared one.