For Dreamers, 48 Fashion Fantasies From the Vogue Runway Archive

January 1, 2021

Image may contain Tent Human Person Leisure Activities Dance Pose and Stage

When I used to shop in stores and sales clerks would ask if they could help me, I always used to say that I don’t know what I want until I see it. It being that special something that triggers a memory, an emotion, or a connection. Inspiration works much the same way; it can come from anywhere, but it can’t be manufactured. It must be discovered.

When making collections, designers often turn to art, film, and literature as jumping-off points. Fairy tales, for example, have informed fashion shoots, some of which are collected in Vogue: Fantasy Fashion. But Little Red Riding Hood, renegade princesses, and latter-day Joan of Arcs aren’t only to be found on the magazine’s glossy pages. Season after season, the runway is populated with Dickens heroines and royals, as well as more outré imaginings, like femme fleurs and mystical creatures.

What’s the point of these fantasies, some more viable as “real” clothes than others? Fantasy offers possibilities and sparks the imagination, which has no limits. Here, some flights of fancy from the Vogue Runway archive. Dream on.