Despite all the sunshine, fashion’s dealing us a dark summer. In August’s Dazed & Confused, Philippe and Césarie Yard shot Vika Kuropyatnikova in an eight-page, girl-only editorial called “Dark Arts,” posing on what looks like a jailhouse deathbed, complete with her clutching dying roses against her chest. Then, Steven Meisel shot the new fall 2008 campaign for Lanvin with Liya Kebede and Raquel Zimmermann creeping through a cemetery setting. And who can forget the Yves Saint Laurent tribute in Italian Vogue’s August issue, also shot by Meisel, which captures the industry’s heartbreak after the death of one of its biggest stars? Though not the cheeriest way to welcome fall, it’s a beautiful one nonetheless. —Sharon Clott