Behind the scenes of British Vogue and Edward Enninful's latest cover: Video reveals how 40 of the world's leading ladies flew to New York at their own expense for iconic shoots

British Vogue has revealed the incredible logistics involved in outgoing editor Edward Enninful's epic final cover shoot.

Edward, 51, the publication's first male and first Black editor, announced in June that he would be stepping down to take on a new global role at publisher Conde Nast.

And to ensure his latest cover would be one to remember, he gathered the likes of Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss, Gigi Hadid, Salma Hayek, Oprah and Miley Cyrus in one room to pose for photos.

A behind-the-scenes video shared on the magazine's Instagram account shows the 40 legends gathering in a New York studio, ready for Steven Meisel to shoot the cover.

After sending his requests to his forty cover stars, Edward confessed that he was holding his breath hoping they would agree before the celebrities flew (at their own expense) to New York for the shoot.

For Edward, it was important to have all the women in one room and not rely on Photoshop, but it meant a huge amount of preparation for the editor and his team.

Edward revealed how he wrote each woman a personal note asking them to take part, with his team estimating they sent out a thousand WhatsApp messages to organize the huge shoot.

After sending his requests to his forty cover stars, Edward confessed he was holding his breath hoping they would agree, before the celebrities flew in (at their own expense) from London, Paris, Milan, Los Angeles and beyond to take in December to arrive for the shoot in New York.

He recalled, “They came about as if from a dream.

“As the models rolled around at 8 a.m., the movie icons, the musicians, the moguls, the sports legends and media stars began to arrive. Mother and daughter Kaia Gerber and Cindy Crawford carpooled.

“ Ditto Salma Hayek Pinault and Linda Evangelista, since Salma stayed at Linda's house the night before.

'Dua Lipa and Miley Cyrus blew through their pop star schemes. And everyone made sure everything went smoothly so Gigi Hadid could get home to her toddler on time.”

To ensure his latest cover would be one to remember, he gathered the likes of Victoria Beckham, Kate Moss, Gigi Hadid, Salma Hayek, Oprah and Miley Cyrus in one room to pose for photos.

40 legendary British Vogue cover stars came together to film the latest edition of Edward Enninful: 1. Anok Yai, 2. Kaia Gerber, 3. Naomi Campbell, 4. Dua Lipa, 5. Maya Jama, 6. Kate Moss, 7. Cynthia Erivo, 8. Simone Ashley, 9. Lila Moss, 10. Ariana Debose, 11. Jameela Jamil 12. Oprah, 13. Salma Hayek, 14. Christy Turlington, 15. Selma Blair, 16. Miley Cyrus, 17. Iman, 18. Linda Evangelista, 19. Jane Fonda, 20. Cara Delevingne, 21. Gugu Mbatha-Raw, 22. Gigi Hadid, 23. Adwoa Aboah, 24. Victoria Beckham, 25. Paloma Elsesser, 26. Gemma Chan, 27. Jodie Comer, 28 Precious Lee, 29. Amber Valletta, 30. Adut Akech, 31. Cindy Crawford, 32. Karen Elson, 33. Irina Shayk, 34. Laverne Cox, 35. Anya Taylor-Joy, 36. Serena Williams, 37. Rina Sawayama , 38. Karlie Kloss, 39. Vittoria Ceretti, 40. Jourdan Dunn

The entire process was completed very quickly, with the fittings done and dusted in two days and the actual shoot taking just 15 minutes after photographer Meisel had intricately mapped out his scene of stand-ins.

Revealing how he chose the icons, Edward wrote for Vogue: 'When it came to my last issue, I knew the cover would be dedicated to women. Naturally!

'It was clear to all of us on the team that no woman could or should summarize the past years for the magazine.'

“What we needed was a group that could leverage the power of the collective to bring to life what I hope has been a bold, disruptive and evolutionary period in Vogue's history.”