We were inspired by ancient Oriental watercolor books, Egyptian manuscripts, and children's books, and imagined a long, long (long) accordion fold with pop-ups. The construction, devised by Stephen, consisted of two panels glued back to back with the pop-up elements built right in. This seemed to be a clever, streamlined strategy as it avoided having to print on both sides, but in the end, it was complicated enough that the factory could only produce fifty or so copies a day. At any rate, it was our first issue that could be considered ''bound'' or ''booklike'' because all the pages were connected. We tracked down a special underwater photographer who gave us the close-up of the fish on the cover, and for our own part, spent quite a bit of time at the New York Aquarium tracking the white whale that appears inside. The issue ends with a metal fish made for us by the Spanish designer Sybilla, which came embedded in a foam-core final page. When the issue appeared, people asked us, ''If this is a fashion publication, why all the pictures of fish?'' We tried to explain it with answers like ''Visionaire is a fashion publication that is not only about clothes.'' A self-fulfilling prophecy?

Limited Edition of 1500 numbered copies.