Fifteen years after the events of the first film, former male models Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and Hansel McDonald (Owen Wilson) are recruited by interpol agent Melanie Valentina (Penélope Cruz) to stop the rising number of assassinations of some of the world's most beautiful people. The two then go undercover at a number of high profile fashion events to try and find out who is responsible for the killings. However, Derek and Hansel have a hard time being accepted back into the fashion world due to their long absence and the two end up labelled as "old' and "lame".