A timeless and eternal language of elegance, as embodied in the work of Erté and Aubrey Beardsley through to Lillian Bassman and Irina Ionesco, was the inspiration behind Nick Knight's editorial for the January 2012 issue of W magazine. Working with model Alexia Wight and stylist Edward Enninful, Knight explores this aesthetic genealogy, fusing the future-fantastic visions of fashion pioneers including Rick Owens, Gareth Pugh, Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci and Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, with all the hauteur of the Golden Age of couture. The result? An editorial that expounds the elegant core of the finest fashion past, present and future - here including previously unpublished stills.