Far And Away.(Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw)

We're not above postmodernism at VOGUE. In 2002, when we first put Sarah Jessica Parker on our cover, we were winking at the fact that Carrie Bradshaw, Parker's character on Sex and the City, had found work (and the shoe closet!) writing for VOGUE. So when Michael Patrick King, the man behind the HBO hit, came to us a year ago asking for our help with a motion picture based on the series, we were happy to oblige. In the film Carrie is shot for our annual "Age Issue" by Patrick Demarchelier in an unconventional bridal story (with cameos by Andre Leon Talley and other VOGUE staffers). Andre and I had a lot of fun picking the dresses, often fresh from the Paris catwalks, for the film's shoot sequence--although Carrie's "real" wedding dress, a Vivienne Westwood extravaganza, was the character's first choice rather than ours (as is only fitting). It was also great fun to collaborate again with Sarah Jessica Parker, who is a stunningly smart and substantial woman. Although very different from Carrie--Parker is far more demure and family-minded--she is just as singular and wonderful. All of which brings us to the Escapes Issue, and Parker's actual fashion portfolio, shot by Annie Leibovitz and Executive Fashion Editor Phyllis Posnick. When we were pondering various honeymoon scenarios for Carrie and Mr. Big, our thoughts turned first to distant blue seas and exotic skylines. But gradually we realized that the only city for this happy couple was Manhattan.

Staying close to home also underpinned our story with Daria Werbowy and Pierce Brosnan in a Vertigo -era San Francisco, as imagined by Mario Testino and Creative Director Grace Coddington. Brosnan is another unique talent; and as for his personal qualities, these were revealed to me on the first anniversary of 9/11. On that day, he and I were the only passengers flying Paris--New ...