Photo: Imaxtree

We’ll cut right to the chase: A lot of crazy shit happened in the fashion world this year. While our industry can sometimes seem isolated and fantastical, many of its key players and events made headlines even in the mainstream media over the course of 2011.

Since January 1, we’ve seen our share of ups and downs: There have been exciting new beginnings and tragic falls from grace. A royal wedding and a Sarah Burton for McQueen dress captivated the world, while Galliano’s dress for Kate Moss made the fashion world swoon. We’ve celebrated the return of older models—like when 46-year-old Kristen McMenamy wore a bikini on the cover of Vogue Italia—and saw plenty of controversy surrounding very young ones. Just when we thought the boundaries of gender identity were breaking for good and that Lea T could kiss Kate Moss on the cover of LOVE, a men’s mag openly calls androgynous model Andrej Pejic a “thing.” We took it all in stride, and we’ve hopefully come out better on the other side.

Looking back at 2011, we’ve chosen twenty major moments that we believe defined the year in fashion. Which one made the biggest impact on you?