Mehmed Fehmy Agha was born in the Ukraine (Russia at the time) to Turkish parents. He studied Art at the Art Academy in Kiev and Economics in St. Petersburg. He also lived in Paris and Berlin. He was the art director for the 1920s German edition of the magazine Vogue, which received the attention of the Publisher Conde Nast in New York. In 1929 he was invited to Vogue in the United States as creative director, where he would establish new standards in editorial design and promote many young talents.