This image was inspired by Elle’s Blue theme and also by a vintage

　　This image was inspired by Elle’s Blue theme and also by a vintage Lillian Bassman photograph that creative director Joe Zee discovered depicting a model in head-to-toe-couture submerged in water. In this image Drew Barrymore wears a Dolce & Gabbana silk dress with pink floral appliqués; the result is an arresting and amazingly crisp image that reflects both the actress’ quirkiness and fashion’s fairytale aspects--while reminding us of the beauty and poetry of water.

　　In Peter Lindbergh’s photograph of Sarah Jessica Parker for the March 2009 cover of Bazaar, the actress’s silvery gray organza Chanel dress picks up the early-morning light of daybreak on the Brooklyn Bridge. The color is in turn reflected in the Bazaar logo. This is a cover that perfectly captures the energy of Sarah Jessica in the city and the optimism of the new fashion season.

　　Christopher Anderson’s photograph of models backstage at a fashion show for the fall 2008 cover of the semi-annual New York Look is documentary photography at its finest, using an arresting composition and bold color to create an image of abstract beauty that perfectly conveys the sensibility of the magazine. Look is less about the clothes themselves than about the fashion shows as phenomena. The image, candid and captured in-camera, yet looking like a piece of constructed art, was both a stunning photograph and a strikingly effective magazine cover.

　　New York managed to show Kate Moss as she’s never been seen before on its "Spring Fashion" cover. The completely unretouched photo by Bert Stern strips away the glamour and artifice of the typical fashion magazine cover to reveal an almost shockingly real—yet no less beautiful—Kate Moss. For those accustomed to seeing celebrities airbrushed almost beyond recognition, with no freckles, wrinkles, or body fat, this photo was bracing, original, captivating.