There is something very dapper about this parade of men in suits and hats swarming past Vanity Fair Place and Fifth Avenue. Some of them even resemble Frank Crowninshield, the magazine’s first and founding editor. The array of suits and hats on the lower left dissolves into negative space on the upper right. John Held Jr, an important figure in the history of illustration, did this cover. Photograph: Courtesy of Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair covers often featured an elegant pair out on the town. Here we see lots of them in a scrum. Action is compressed into a small space. There is colour, movement, and lots of hairdos in perfect flapper style. AH Fish was one of the most prolific illustrators of Vanity Fair covers. Photograph: Courtesy of Vanity Fair
There is something so inviting in the light outside. The street beckons as this trio leaves a show. They are coming from somewhere elegant and going off to some other elegant place. It is as if the cover itself is a portal to this rarefied world. Photograph: Courtesy of Vanity Fair
This cover marks the beginning of a radical change in Vanity Fair design. Here, it takes a modernist turn. There is a marked geometric boldness. The title of the magazine is flipped. It is so prescient. It is as if Crowninshield knew the world would change completely a few months later. Photograph: Courtesy of Vanity Fair
Here again, colours and shapes come together to create a devilish figure, smoking. The logo is encased in a cigarette impaled by his horns. It’s one of my favourites. Photograph: Courtesy of Vanity Fair
This cover shows how illustration was moving toward simplicity. The eye can break this image up into four colour quadrants, or three figures, but ultimately they all merge into one. Photograph: Courtesy of Vanity Fair
Here we have Greta Garbo conveyed in elbows, eyes, and jagged lines. Miguel Covarrubias, the great Mexican illustrator, was so efficient in using the least amount of flourish to portray something in an iconic way. I think this cover best represents how great design has always been in the DNA of Vanity Fair.
Read more on vanityfair.com Photograph: Courtesy of Vanity Fair
