IMAGINE THAT.(celebrity's thinking about fashion)

Byline: Anna Wintour

This is our fifth annual power issue, and it celebrates the spirit of independence that strongly infuses current thinking about fashion-and is so badly needed in a time when, it seems, a certain resistance to the dominant forces is also badly needed. This is the case whether you're reacting to the perils of a tsunami (and please read Vogue photographer Robert Fairer's account of how he survived the Phuket disaster by literally swimming against the tide); or trying to save Africa one tree at a time (see Alexandra Fuller's profile of the Nobel Peace prize winner Wangari Maathai); or using fashion in order to stimulate trade and economic self-sufficiency to the poorest parts of the world (see Robert Sullivan's "Stream of Conscience," a revealing portrait of Bono and wife Ali Hewson).

Speaking of fashion-always a pleasure in March, when the new season is finally upon us-I can't recall a time when independence and spiritedness were so relevant and appealing. I'm not suggesting that designers are in a wild mood, or even in a particularly avant-garde one. As Sally Singer argues in her portrait of Lanvin's Alber Elbaz, a certain power shift has occurred in the relations between the designer's imagination and that of the woman who wears his creations. It's understood by all concerned that a woman should not be dictated to in the matter of her individual style; her imagination should be stimulated and her feelings touched.

The result is a profusion of colors and prints that makes this season as emotional and joyous as I can remember. I love the playfulness and practicality of carrying a big bag with a small bag (see Elisa Santisi and Raymond Meier's "Extra, Extra!"). This is an innovation that I think will last. There is also staying power, I suspect, in the very dressed aesthetic that Grace Coddington and Steven ...