Harper’s Bazaar editor recalls her ‘greatest hits’

As editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, Glenda Bailey has seen some pretty fantastic things - “epic moments,” she calls them.

In her 10 years at the helm of the magazine, she has overseen fancy photo shoots with A-list stars, insider moments with top designers and the times the magazine hits the zeitgeist just right. Miss Bailey highlights many of them in a new book about her decade in charge, “Harper’s Bazaar: Greatest Hits,” and in an interview with the Associated Press, she listed her favorites:

c Demi Moore’s 2010 cover, where she shared the coveted front-page real estate with a giraffe. Miss Moore wore a dress and the 10-inch Armadillo heels from Alexander McQueen’s last collection on a staircase to nowhere. The image was shot a few weeks before McQueen’s suicide, but Miss Bailey said she could think of no better tribute to him.

c William Klein’s portraits of designers, shot in 2007, his first fashion photographs in more than three decades. Miss Bailey said the images captured the designers the way they chose to present themselves: Marc Jacobs practically having a party in the studio, Miuccia Prada all by herself, Karl Lagerfeld surrounded by his muses and the craftsmen who bring the vision to life, and Alber Elbaz with his entire staff, from the company president to the cleaner, doing a little dance.

c Naomi Campbell’s stunning 2009 “Wild Things” spread by Jean Paul Goode, especially the supermodel wearing a Blumarine cheetah-print dress outrunning a cheetah.

“When those pictures arrived on my desk, it was fashion heaven,” Miss Bailey said. “I can’t remember ever being speechless, but I was.”

c The animated characters of “The Simpsons” taking a tour of Paris in 2007 with Linda Evangelista as their tour guide. Marge met Mr. Lagerfeld, Mr. Jacobs, Mr. Elbaz, Donatella Versace and Jean Paul Gaultier.

“Marc Jacobs loved his illustration so much, he had his made as a tattoo on his arm,” Miss Bailey said.

c Top models Amber Valletta, Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, Shalom Harlow, Kristen McMenamy and Nadja Auermann posing without makeup for Peter Lindbergh in 2007. The women - all in their 30s and 40s - showed they were embracing their looks and age, Miss Bailey said.

The gallery is still one of the most popular features on the Bazaar website.

“When people talk about Bazaar, they talk about a fun, fashionable, feel-good fashion magazine. They know we have a sense of humor,” she said, “but I think we’re also renowned for our ideas.”

c The all-important September issue of 2009, which was going to press earlier that summer when news came of Michael Jackson’s death. Miss Bailey went into action and had Agyness Deyn dress up in Jackson’s signature style in a red leather jacket, cropped black pants and military jackets. The next month, the magazine scored an interview with Janet Jackson.

“When Michael Jackson passed away, a lot of people wanted to talk to her. It was a sign of us being able to move quickly,” the editor said.

c Features that presented fashion as part of pop culture, incorporating art, music and movies. Over the years, Bazaar has paid homage to filmmakers Mike Nichols, Tim Burton and Pedro Almodovar.

In one photo, Mr. Lagerfeld and Mr. Almodovar, guns in hand, re-create a scene from “Live Flesh.”

c Kate Winslet’s “exquisite” white strapless gown by Ralph Lauren, peeled straight from the runway for a cover shoot in 2009. She stood on what looks like rooftop scaffolding high above Manhattan. “In reality, she’s not that high off the ground, but it looks like she’s risking life and limb, and that’s what you want from a fashion magazine. You want to dream. You want to be aspirational and uplifting - literally in this particular case,” Miss Bailey said.

She added, “So often with celebs you see them doing the same thing time and time again. That seems dated. I want to see them in a new light. I’m buying a fashion magazine because I want to see the relevance of the time I live and I also want to see what’s coming next.”