VISIONAIRE NO. 18: FASHION SPECIAL: LOUIS VUITTON (FALL 1996: DOUBLE ISSUE)

Here's a write-up from the Visionaire website: Every issue of Visionaire is, to some degree, about fashion, but Issue 18, was the first all-out Fashion Special. Forty-four artists, photographers, and image-makers were asked to give their personal interpretation of clothing selected from the collections of forty-five of the world’s most innovative and influential fashion designers. Highlights of the issue included Nan Goldin’s collaboration with Helmut Lang, Jurgen Teller shooting Hussein Chalayan, Terry Richardson’s take on John Bartlett, and Craig McDean’s nine-page life-size foldout featuring Comme des Garcons. But the real surprise was the packaging: a deluxe monogrammed portfolio designed and produced specially for Visionaire by Louis Vuitton. People went wild. Some couldn’t believe that the case was real. By the time the launch party was thrown at Mr. Chow in New York City some three weeks after the issue appeared, all 2,500 copies had sold out. It is among the most rare and sought-after back issues. Needless to say, we wish we had done a limited-edition run of ten thousand.