from 11th February to 22nd May 2016. The exhibition will feature more than 280 prints by the most prolific photographers of the 20th and 21st centuries. Beginning at the present day and working backwards, it will tell a visual history of the iconic fashion bible, from its start in 1916 through its cultural evolution during the decades that followed.

Expressive and beautiful images taken by some of the greatest names in fashion photography will be on display, including Mario Testino, David Baily, Helmut Newton and Cecil Beaton. The collection will also honour a selection of lesser-known war photography by Lee Miller, showing that even in the early days the magazine went beyond the fashion world by addressing social and economic issues.

Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, noted, “British Vogue has played a pivotal role in the development of photographic portraiture over the past century, commissioning leading photographers and designers to produce some of the most memorable and influential images in the history of fashion,”

This can certainly be said of Corinne Day’s controversial series of Kate Mass, who at just 16 years old triggered the ‘heroin chic’ debate when she was photographed in her knickers. The images not only launched the model’s phenomenal career, but also changed the face of fashion photography forever. The full series will be on display.

The exhibition pays tribute to the legendary faces that defined the 90s supermodels era, as Well as celebrities that graced the magazine’s cover in recent years, such as Gwyneth Paltrow and David Beckham, There’s even a nod to Charlie Chaplin and Fred Astaire.

Vogue’s contributing editor Robin Muir, who has already directed several major fashion exhibitions over the last 20 years, including one for the V&A, curates the exhibition. With unprecedented access to Condé Nast’s archives, he provides us with a rare opportunity to wander back through the magazine’s extraordinary past.

The first issue of UK Vogue was introduced in 1916 during the Great War, when transatlantic shipping was made impossible and the US version was no longer able to reach British newsstands. What began as essentially a high-society newsletter grew into one of the world’s most influential fashion sources. From Chanel to Yves Saint Laurent, it gives readers a window into an elevated world of glamour, beauty and elegance, with its long history of influential contributors, inventive art direction and forward-thinking fashion photography.

Vogue 100: A Century of Style rediscovers the link between photographers, icons and fashion, as well as touching upon its wider-reaching social and cultural impacts.

Alexandra Shulman, UK Vogue’s editor in chief since 1992 observes: “Vogue 100: A Century of Style is a landmark exhibition in the history of magazine photography… I am incredibly proud of this collection of exceptional photography and of the whole concept of the exhibition, which shows the breadth and depth of the work commissioned by the magazine as well as Vogue’s involvement in the creation of that work…

Anybody interested in photography, fashion, fame and magazines will find this an unmissable experience.”

Vogue 100; A Century of Style is at the National Portrait Gallery, London, from 11th February – 22nd May 2016, sponsored by Leon Max.