This issue brings together a striking mix of critical essays and visual culture. Georgica Pettus's list of fancies, Bunny Rogers and Diamond Stingily's operatic detour, and Patrick R. Crowley on Julio Torres's color logic all open with strong imagery that carries the reader into deeper conversation. Each piece reads as a visual essay in its own right.

Sofia Coppola's take on Marc Jacobs gets a sharp-eyed review that questions the tastefulness of biography, while the accompanying photographs capture the designer's theatrical world. The issue's design holds these disparate threads together with an editorial clarity that lets the artwork breathe. For inspiration, this is a solid, thought-provoking issue.