the love interests are an accessory of sorts (consciously or unconsciously) to the versions of themselves that the main characters want to project to the world.

when andy does the piece on emily's new store emily says something along the lines of it's not about the handbag itself but about the status symbol of having that expensive bag.

kenneth branagh. he's domestic. he has manners. he takes the dog for walks, he takes a dy's suitcase for her, he helps host the party, he's always wearing knitwear. and he's 'cultured' (plays in a string quartet, is british, which is sometimes considered classy).

surely miranda can't be a total dragon lady if she is with this domestic and polite guy, right? there must be another side to her. she's also totally highbrow because magazines and fashion are about culture, like string quartets, not just consumerism.

peter. he's, like, fine. overall pretty nice, well-presented, has a good income etc. would absolutely agree to getting a golden retriever and would probably be open to a super domestic, suburban life.

andy has her eggs frozen but doesn't seem to actively want kids. but maybe just likes the idea of that married-with-kids life being a possibility. who loves her work more than anything. it's taken her all over the world on adventures. which is wonderful and she is, quite rightly, proud of this brilliant career that she's built for herself. andy who is shown in both films to not be super great at healthy communication in romantic relationships. she's telling herself (and the world) that she totally is the sort of person to be with a 'normal' (quite boring actually) dude like this.

benji is the most obvious. he is the chanel handbag. it's not about him as a person, it's about the status symbol of dating a millionaire. emily likes the attention she gets with him on her arm. she has 'succeeded' by getting him.

even lucy liu. she says of her new fiance that he doesn't care about all that fame and money stuff. she doesn't mention his name or his personality or his job. he (and by extension she) is distanced from her ex-husband benji.

andy fixes things with peter because she wants to show she can have it all. she can succeed at runway and have a 'normal' home life.