Fashion photographs – glamorous, provocative, beautiful, accomplished, magical – have always been associated with some of the most famous names in the history of photography, such as Cecil Beaton, Irving Penn, Helmut Newton and Mario Testino.

Edward Steichen took what were probably the first fashion photographs in 1911 and since then the most distinguished practitioners have turned fashion photography into an art form. For many it was the editors and art directors at Condé Nast, such as Edna Woolman Chase, Diana Vreeland and Alexander Liberman, who launched their careers.

With unprecedented access to the Condé Nast archives in New York, Paris and Milan, the photography historian Nathalie Herschdorfer has gathered original prints as well as pages from the actual magazines to provide a unique opportunity to see the work of over eighty photographers right at the outset of their careers.