DJ Stout, who was art director of Texas Monthly from 1987 to 1999, writes in Design Observer about how the famous 1992 Ann Richards cover came together.

The governor’s aide told me that Ann loved the motorcycle idea and she had suggested that we just “fake” the shot again. I was off to the races. We found the perfect white Harley and I hired commercial photographer Jim Myers to shoot the picture in his Dallas studio. I contacted a fashion designer in Smithville, who specialized in leather apparel, to make a customized leather motorcycle outfit, complete with leather fringe of course. Then we hired the same body double that we had used for the “Dirty Dancing” cover to pose as Anne’s body again. For many years after that issue of Texas Monthly was published, I would run into Ann Richards at my favorite Mexican food lunch spot in downtown Austin and she would always thank me for giving her such a “sexy body.” It had become an icon and a symbol over time of Ann’s character and her amazing legacy, even though it wasn’t a real photo of her. Years later, on Texas Monthly’s 30th anniversary, the readers of the magazine selected that cover of Ann on the Harley as the most memorable and beloved of all the covers that had been created throughout the magazine’s existence.

>DJ Stout: Remembering Ann Richards [Design Observer]