Carolyn Murphy

Sexy, edgy, ladylike, sophisticated, innovative, timeless — you never really know what the genius of a photographer, stylist, and gorgeous girl on film will deliver until you see it for yourself. Month after month, we're continually amazed at what our favorite models can do, and this year, there was a lot to take in: Crystal Renn made our jaws drop; Kate Moss got glammed up, then dressed down; Gisele worked her sexy and sporty angles; and Carolyn Murphy was gorgeous as ever. Obviously, there are way more girls on film who deserve a look, so click through to see our favorites, then get a full rundown of the year's best editorials.

When Carine Roitfeld took the helm of Vogue Paris in 2001, she transformed the magazine into a chic, risk-taking publication. Today's news of her resignation surprised many people, including those who admired her unusual and unique style. We've put together 20 of the best covers from her reign at the magazine. Some are sexy, some are soft, but all have that Roitfeld touch we've come to love.

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>> Nicolas Ghesquiere's Spring 2011 model cast grabbed as much attention — if not more — than the clothes; and it seems that he devoted just as much time curating his model troupe as designing this season.

In June, the Balenciaga team started a street casting tour: in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Belgium, and Australia, eventually turning up seven girls — Ghesquiere called them "characters" — a dancer, an artist . . . all willing to have their hair bleached or dyed black and cut into a punky crop specifically for the show. Alongside those girls — among them was Alexander Wang opener Britt Maren — the cast included a parade of notables: Stella Tennant, Amber Valletta, Carolyn Murphy, a pregnant Miranda Kerr, with Gisele Bündchen closing. "I was sick of the clone-model thing," the designer offered as explanation, adding: "It's about individuality."

The show also explored “bringing out the man that is in every woman,” according to the designer, who sourced the collection's houndstooth pattern from a 1965 Cristobal Balenciaga silk column dress. Also featured: in his first time since joining Balenciaga, Ghesquiere did flats, creeper-style.

>> Roberto Cavalli reportedly spent about $2 million on his 40th anniversary bash held last night at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris — and that doesn't include the budget allotted to bringing Natalia Vodianova (and perhaps some of the other 1,200 attendees) to the party. As the New York Times's Eric Wilson wrote: "It was one of those fashion parties that felt like another era, when it was possible to enjoy such extravagance without wondering how a designer could possibly be selling enough animal-printed evening gowns and exuberantly distressed denim to afford it all."

Kylie Minogue performed, the walls were lined with Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott's images of models in Cavalli, and Heidi Klum introduced the designer as a four-tier, 10-foot birthday cake covered in sparklers was wheeled onto the stage. But even through all that, Cavalli, almost 70, admitted he's not the party animal he used to be: “Don’t say it, don’t say it, please, because the people should still dream with me,” he said. “The young should think that, instead of sparkling water, I drink Krug, or that I still smoke 10 Cuban cigars every day.”

With Labor Day weekend around the corner, we thought it would be fun to pay a fashionable tribute to our favorite American models, veteran and newcomers. Posing in the veterans' corner are Stephanie Seymour, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Angela Lindvall, and Bridget Hall. Then, the fresh American faces that grace today's spreads are Dree Hemingway, Karlie Kloss, Chanel Iman, and more. See them all and find out where in the US they were born!