blowing the cover

If you can peel your eyes away from the stunning cover — a Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott-lensed portrait of Lady Gaga wearing a gown by Marc Jacobs — there are 916 pages of fashion to behold in Vogue's September 2012 issue.

The issue marks Lady Gaga's second appearance on the cover (she also covered the March 2011 issue) and Vogue's 120th anniversary. It's also the biggest issue in the magazine's history, exceeding the previous record of 840 pages set in September 2007.

The issue will be on newsstands on Aug. 14, and promises a profile on Chelsea Clinton, a story that frames hair as the new makeup, and a look back at the last 120 years of Vogue's history. For now, a look at Gaga's cover — and the magazine's very first cover from 1892 — here in the gallery.

Photo courtesy of Vogue.

For its Pre-Fall 2012 covers, i-D Magazine asked Terry Richardson to photograph a group including Cara Delevingne, Kelly Mittendorf, and Charlotte Free. The issue is billed as a "celebration of what it means to be young today," and editors at i-D selected these three to represent the young people who will shape the future of the world. But the magazine notes that youth isn't an age — it's a state of mind. "Feeling youthful is finding joy and pleasure in everything you do, whatever your age," its editors write. Let's see who'll join the youthful models on the magazine's additional covers. For now, a glimpse at these bright young things in the gallery.

The covers of Love's eighth issue will feature actors from the British drama Downton Abbey — and editor Katie Grand says Marc Jacobs is to thank for their inclusion in the issue.

"I really wasn't interested in Downton Abbey at all," Grand said in an interview. "But around September last year Marc Jacobs kept saying I'd love it and that I had to watch it. So I tried watching the Christmas special and couldn't get into it. But then I was ill in January and started at the beginning and became addicted. I've now watched it three times over!"

Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott shot the covers, for which Grand styled Jessica Brown Findlay (who plays Lady Sybil Crawley), Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary), and Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith) in ornate wigs and dramatic, pale makeup. Inside the magazine, the actresses wear clothing from Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood. Another image featuring actor Rob James-Collier (Thomas, the footman) has also been released.

Love issue eight, themed "A Costume Drama," will be available on the newsstand on July 30. A look at the covers here in the gallery.

Carine Roitfeld took time away from planning the launch of her new magazine CR Fashion Book to style three covers for the Youthquake issue of V Magazine. The first cover features musicians Sky Ferreira, Grimes, and Charli XCX wearing head-to-toe Givenchy, while another features models Stef Van Der Laan, Daniela Braga, and Kati Nescher wearing those flat-lined New Silhouette coats from Comme des Garcons Fall 2012. The final cover shows Nescher, Ava Smith, and Thairine Garcia wearing the intergalactic novelty tops from Fall 2012 Balenciaga.

Behind the Sebastian Faena-shot covers, the issue features a photo story on America's up-and-coming actresses lensed by Drew Barrymore and a showcase of student work from Parsons, Central Saint Martins, and RISD, among other design schools.

The issue will be on newsstands Thursday, but you can take a look at the three covers right here in the gallery.

Tilda Swinton looks stunning — and a little unlike herself — in a custom Antony Price dress and big, bold curls on the cover of the fourth edition of Candy magazine.

Xevi Muntane shot the cover and the coordinating photo story in the magazine, working with creative director Jerry Stafford. Together the two created a story called "The Transformer," which shows just how easily Swinton can switch from one persona to the next. Take a look at the otherworldly photos in the gallery.

A pregnant Julia Restoin Roitfeld and a winking, smiling Agyness Deyn are among the cultural icons on the eight covers of i-D's Summer issue.

The "Lights, Camera, Action!"-themed issue, which hit newsstands today, features a treasure trove of stories about all of its cover subjects, including Dior artistic director Raf Simons and model Arizona Muse. The attention-getting covers also include Felicity Hayward, Andrej Pejic and Dree Hemingway, Léa Seydoux, and actor Andrew Garfield — who will star in this Summer's Spider-Man reboot. Take a look at all of the covers in the gallery.

Photos courtesy of i-D magazine.

>> Talk about fashion royalty. Everyone from designers Karl Lagerfeld to Georgia May Jagger got shot for the Spring issue of i-D magazine. Its theme is Fashion Royalty, and when it hits newsstands today, buyers will have nine cover options to choose from.

Lagerfeld's straightforward and direct cover is simple and shows the designer wearing an eyepatch, while covers featuring Shalom Harlow, Guinevere van Seenus, and Carolyn Murphy capture the ethereal beauty of Daniele Duella and Iango Henzi's team photography. There's even a slightly overexposed photo of Vivienne Westwood removing a false eyelash. This collection of covers has something for everyone.

Take a look at all of them here.

Photos Courtesy of i-D Magazine

>>The cover of Vanity Fair's March 2012 Hollywood Issue — which features 11 "fresh young stars of 2012" — has been revealed. So, who made the three-paneled, Mario Testino-lensed cover? From left to right: Rooney Mara, Mia Wasikowska, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Elizabeth Olsen, Adepero Oduye, Shailene Woodley, Paula Patton, Felicity Jones, Lily Collins, and Brit Marling. The actresses lounge in an art-deco-inspired set and are dressed in pastel gowns meant to invoke a "'20s and '30s boudoir feel." Click through to get an up-close look at each of the fold-out panels, and watch the mini making-of video below.

>>For the cover of Vogue Australia's March issue, Karlie Kloss went wet-haired, red-lipped, and toe-to-top Prada. Watch Kloss work her magic at the Kai Z Feng-lensed shoot in the video below, then click through to peek images from inside the issue.

Photos via The Fashion Spot