Azealia Banks gets reactions. Since she bopped her way through viral hit '212' in a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt, dropping the c-word bomb with careless intent, she quickly became a 2012 point of fixation. Rapper, fashionista (she's played at Karl Lagerfeld's house and fronts the A/W12 T by Alexander Wang campaign) and hard-balling Harlem pop provocateur, Karley Sciortino spoke to Banks for this issue, photographed by Sharif Hamza and styled by Karen Langley with this season's must-have accessory: an inflated raspberry-coloured condom.

"I really enjoyed interviewing her. She's an extremely smart and driven person," says Sciortino. "The intensity of her ambition is almost scary. You get the sense that there are no laws or limits to what she will do to get where she wants to be. She's really funny, blunt and flips her hair a lot – like the classic 'bitch from a teen movie' hair flip. It's a good move. My interview with her inspired me to flip my hair more."

Elsewhere in the issue, 11 of the world's most exciting young female musicians including Jessie Ware, Laurel Halo and Njena Reddd Foxxx wear classic Chanel jackets their way, a Dazed take on Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld's Little Black Jacket project. Another Magazine fashion director Katie Shillingford even took a trip to Tokyo to board the Chanel A/W12 haute couture plane, sitting down with Karl and Carine for a head-to-head conversation.

Over 50 pages of the most inspiring A/W12 collections make up our seasonal fashion special, photographed by Sean and Seng, Andrea Spotorno, Marlene Marino and Julia Hetta and styled by Karen Langley, Robbie Spencer, Katie Shillingford, Tony Irvine and Hannes Hetta.

Ukrainian feminists protesters Femen discuss their rise to notoriety with a series of topless Euro 2012 and Olympic demonstrations and, as we wait for the fate of Russian punks Pussy Riot, Dazed highlights how the protestors are facing years in jail for storming a Moscow cathedral to play an anti-Putin "punk prayer".

Plus: William Gibson, Jon Savage and Johan Kugelberg talk punk's coming-of-age, Jeff Mills celebrates 20 years of Axis, Cat Power, and Pucci's Peter Dundas, all in an issue of anarchy and excess.

Photography Sharif Hamza Styling Karen Langley Hair Brianna Shehee Make-Up Lisa Houghton at Tim Howard Management Nails Honey at Exposure NY using Chanel Set Design Jill Nicholls at The Magnet Agency Photographic Assistants Matthew Hawkes, Myles Blankenship Styling Assistants Emma Wyman, Jessica Bobince Production Ashley Herson Production Assistant Marcus Chang Retouching by Blank (Post)