There are few people who have shaped the way we see fashion quite like Grace Coddington. The British stylist began her career in front of the camera as a model before moving behind it, where her romantic imagination, exacting eye, and gift for visual storytelling helped produce some of the most memorable images to grace the pages of Vogue for the past half-century. Throughout her nearly three decades at the magazine, Coddington transformed far-flung locations, elaborate sets, and the occasional herd of animals into pictures that felt less like fashion editorials than like their own little worlds. She has also become nearly as recognizable as the models she dressed, thanks to her unmistakable red hair and devotion to cats. Ahead of the publication of her new book, Grace: Now, from Phaidon, Coddington sits in DRESS CODE’s Haute Seat. —Andrew Bevan
First impression: Someone who looks you in the eye.
Scent: It’s quite English of me to say, but I love the scent of rose. I started with a very classic one from Floris of London, and I’ve liked rose-based perfumes ever since. Hermès does an incredible one called Rose Ikebana.
Watch: A vintage Cartier with a link bracelet. Sofia Coppola has one, and I’m very jealous.
sunglasses: I don’t really like sunglasses. I had to wear them for a year and a half after my car accident in the early 1960s, so I’ve had enough. If I must: a cat-eye pair from Prada or Phoebe-era Celine.
Weekday outfit: A slim skirt with an oversize, round-neck cashmere sweater. Red, perhaps, with gray or black below. I’ve started wearing a lot of navy, too.