Forget about models and designers. The most fascinating figures in fashion are the editors of Vogue. That’s the premise of The September Issue, a new documentary from the team that produced The War Room — and the backroom brokering behind the magazine’s monster fall issue is every bit as riveting as the backstabbing of presidential politics. A veteran fashion crowd ate up every scheming scene during a special preview at Regal South Beach Cinema 18 last Tuesday night.

That editor-in-chief Anna Wintour is the most powerful woman in the fashion industry is clear as her staff cowers and retailers and designers kowtow in the opening scenes. Yet the drama centers on the struggle between Wintour and Vogue‘s creative director Grace Coddington, the only force who can oppose her. The models are simply props as these two faded beauties of a certain age battle over which spreads will run in the issue: Coddington favors gorgeous, soft-focused tableaux. Wintour champions the crisper, more commercial shots of clothes preferred by the magazine’s advertisers.  (“Dresses. I need more dresses,” she mutters, looking with dismay at a cinematic cover shoot by photographer Mario Testino.)

The struggle is resolved by what appears to be a fit of pique by Wintour, and a stroke of whimsical genius by Coddington. The film is a tribute to the complicated relationship these women have developed over 20 years. Who ever said fashion’s not deep?

The September Issue is playing at Regal South Beach Cinema 18. 1120 Lincoln Rd. Miami Beach, FL 33139; 305-674-6766.