The Best Fashion Advertising Campaigns of 2015

There are plenty of fashion industry milestones we look forward to (and follow closely) each year, with the spring and fall campaign seasons ranking high among them. We greatly enjoy seeing how labels decide to communicate the stories of their collections through vivid imagery — and, sometimes, with a clever celebrity casting or two. In 2015, there was no shortage of memorable campaign stars, from Joni Mitchell's turn as the face of Saint Laurent to Justin Bieber's shocking appearance alongside Lara Stone in Calvin Klein's spring campaign, with lots to talk about in between.

Though we graded the spring and fall 2015 ads right after they were released, we narrowed the pool down even further in order to bring you the best of the best. Read on for what we think were the 12 best fashion campaigns of the year, and keep your eyes peeled as the spring 2016 editions begin to roll out in the weeks ahead.

Alexander Wang fall 2015: Squad goals gone goth. We love how the designer cast his own personal Bad Girls Club for the campaign, including his party pals Lexi Boling, Binx Walton and Hanne Gaby Odiele. Photo: Steven Klein

Balmain fall 2015: If you want to make it in modeling these days, it helps to have a hot sister. Olivier Rousteing caught onto this early, and cast the hottest siblings around — the Jenners, the Hadids and the Smallses — in his high-gloss fall campaign. Photo: Mario Sorrenti

Barneys New York spring 2015: A whole mess of shirtless young men worshipping at the altar of Christie Brinkley? Amen to that. This campaign also featured major models of yore like Bethann Hardison, Brooke Shields, Elaine Irwin, Kirsten Owen, Pat Cleveland, and Stephanie Seymour Brant. Photo: Bruce Weber

Céline spring 2015: If there's one campaign image from the whole year that will go down in both fashion and pop cultural history, it's this portrait of literary icon Joan Didion sitting for Phoebe Philo's spring Céline ads. Iconic. Photo: Juergen Teller

Céline fall 2015: In a wildly different strategy from her spring campaign, Philo decided to feature a cast of relatively unknown models for fall. Unsurprisingly, they've all started to rack up the plum gigs since these images were released in July. Photo: Juergen Teller

Dolce & Gabbana spring 2015: Is there anything more endearing than a trio of Sicilian grandmas dripping in ornate accessories? No way. Family first! Photo: Domenico Dolce

Gucci fall 2015: Alessandro Michele took it to the streets for his first main season ad campaign for Gucci, and the resulting images were both beautiful and relatable. Models, they take the subway, too! Photo: Glen Luchford

Miu Miu fall 2015: In this retro, cinematic campaign, a handful of Miuccia Prada's young muses — Mia Goth, Stacy Martin, Hailey Gates and Maddison Brown — hit the streets of New York City for a series of images that were meant to look unstaged. Mission accomplished, and very chicly I might add. Photo: Steven Meisel

Moncler fall 2015: Another model sibling duo, Lucky Blue and Pyper America Smith, star in these epic Moncler ads inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Hans Christian Andersen’s “Snow Queen,” and Slavic folklore. Each image is meant to be one piece of a continuous story that culminates with a sunny, happy ending — which is much more than you can say about most campaigns. Photo: Annie Leibovitz

Oscar de la Renta fall 2015: Peter Copping called upon Carolyn Murphy to star in his first campaign for Oscar de la Renta. We love the juxtaposition of the glamorous ballgown with the model's slouchy poses, bringing a modern edge and a dark color palette to the label's typically prim imagery. Photo: David Sims

Prada fall 2015: These simple campaign images are all about the candy-colored clothing and, of course, the casting. Prada has a knack for discovering fresh new faces who go on to have wildly successful high fashion careers, and Lineisy Montero, Maartje Verhoef, Avery Blanchard, and Ine Neefs — all featured in the fall campaign — are no exceptions. Photo: Steven Meisel

Valentino spring 2015: Not only does this win for best campaign of the year, it might even deserve the distinction of best campaign of the decade. The dreamy, mermaid-inspired shoot features models Maartje Verhoef, Grace Simmons, Hedvig Palm, Vanessa Moody, and Clémentine Deraedt posing in a washed out, pastel seascape. From the colors to the clothes to the casting, it's nothing short of magical. Photo: Michal Pudelka.