What is a fashion director?

Answer pulled directly from nytimes.com : A fashion director makes a lot of the fashion and story decisions with the magazine editor, suggests the photographer and models she thinks best for a task, then during the sitting becomes a combination of producer, tour director, muse and collaborator. It is her job to see that the photographer expresses the magazine's fashion ideas, fools the reader into thinking they are new, and makes the clothes, no matter how hard to wear, not only acceptable but delicious.