



1 / 7 Chevron Chevron Photographed by Patrick Demarchelier, Vogue, May 1989

No one understands transformation better than Madonna. The music icon, who turns 59 today, forged a symbiotic relationship with the fashion community the moment she burst onto the scene in the ’80s, setting trends and playing muse to countless designers. Her ability to switch hair colors, styles, and personas has made her one of the most influential performers of all time. An inescapable presence since her “Material Girl” days, she has inspired collections by Jean Paul Gaultier, Anna Sui, and more; starred in ads for the biggest brands; and created a template that pop successors utilize to this day. Before the world was charting Rihanna’s every wardrobe change or chronicling Miley Cyrus’s progression from good girl to provocateur, Madonna was evolving with each album, turning her music videos—“Vogue,” anyone?—into showcases for the best of the industry’s talent.

Madonna has shown each new incarnation—from Like a Prayer-era brunette bombshell to her Evita homage to Eva Perón—in the pages of Vogue, shot by photographers such as Mario Testino, Patrick Demarchelier, and Steven Meisel. Even her lady-of-the-manor phase in the bucolic English countryside was captured, with her children Lourdes and Rocco by her side. Continuing to grow and evolve through each change, she remains a fashion-favorite mainstay and perhaps the only woman who could turn the Super Bowl halftime show into a giant editorial. Here, a look back at three decades of Madonna in Vogue.