Designers often begin their collections with a mood or inspiration board. Like haute magpies, designers gather images, trinkets and scraps that resonate with them and tack them onto a board to help them better visualize ideas for their clothes. As inchoate themes start to take shape, sketches and fabric swatches may be added.

A month before her collection was due to make its New York fashion week debut, designer Erin Fetherston gave the Wall Street Journal a peek into her design process. Fairy princesses, dragonflies and images of dreamy models were sifted into what became Ms. Fetherston's Spring 2009 collection, titled "East of the Sun and West of the Moon." Backstage at her Sept. 5th show at Bryant Park, Ms. Fetherston said the collection was "truly a vision come to life."

See how her inspiration board transformed into her runway collection.