September is fashion’s January. New Years Resolutions for the world’s most fashionable do not find inspiration in those cold weather months, but rather, in the September issues. Editors at every magazine look to this pivotal issue to raise the bar and set the tone for the year ahead, featuring world famous celebrities, models or public figures on their covers, followed by hundreds of pages of editorials, features, interviews and a whole lot of advertising. Every year, fashion and feature editors, creative directors, sales teams and others are tasked to produce the highest grossing magazine of the year, and to make it as heavy as possible. This year, American Vogue released its largest issue of all time. At a startling 916 pages, it resembles a University textbook (if you were enrolled in a very open-minded, fashion-oriented, Gaga-worshipping seminar – if this exists, sign me up).

While American Vogue continually strives for a brick-like September reveal, other magazines look to reinvention, giving New Years Resolutions a new home in the wake of Labour Day.

Emmanuelle Alt of Paris Vogue told WWD, “All the other Vogues carry a country name. Vogue Paris is the only one to carry the name of a city. Everyone fantasizes about Paris. It’s the concept of the ‘Parisienne.’ The ‘Parisienne’ is a girl who makes people dream worldwide, rightly or wrongly, a girl who represents a particular style, a taste, an allure.” Said to evoke this chic and timeless allure, Paris Vogue is being released with new typography, new monthly features (including a column by Garance Doré), new colouring and more of a unified Parisian vision.  Hitting newsstands August 23, the theme of the issue is black, featuring Kate Moss, Daria Werbowy and Lara Stone on three identical covers, bearing a Dolce & Gabbana black dress.

While Glamour magazine certainly doesn’t scream high fashion, they looked to one of the industry’s most notorious glam girls, Victoria Beckham, to become guest editor for the important September issue. While Victoria is normally styled head to toe in luxury, posing in hotel suites, fancy cars or next to extravagant pools…it’s refreshing to see her in the role she most adores, motherhood. Posing in the kitchen, washing floors and gardening, readers get to see Posh Spice tap her maternal instincts. Better yet? Victoria had her hands on the other beauty and fashion features in the magazine, giving us even more of her signature vision.

Watch Victoria in action at the Glamour offices:

What first ignited my passion for this time of the year was the 2009 documentary The September Issue, which followed Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington, André Leon Talley and other American Vogue staples, as they produced the 2009 September issue. If you’re a magazine or fashion lover, and you’ve yet to watch this, I urge you to do so. Seeing the inner workings of Vogue, as Anna effortlessly says no to her team on countless occasions, orders the world’s best designers to rethink certain trends, and speaks of her past and fashion’s present…it’s all undeniably fascinating. Watch the trailer:

If you’re not the type to spring on a $12 magazine, you should think about investing in a few of this year’s September issues, because they are certainly those that the editors invest the most time and energy in. Every September issue is a collector’s item, and who’s to say that this year’s insights won’t hold true in 2022? While fashion evolves, it also always returns to its roots somehow.

What’s your favourite September 2012 Cover?