In recent decades, much progress has been made in understanding how genes within cells contribute to organ-specific fates or disease phenotypes. However, it is becoming more widely acknowledged that increasing understanding at the molecular scale has not been sufficient to fully grasp how tissues comprised of thousands of cells generate their structures. To address this gap, our lab centers its studies on the behavior of cell collectives in vertebrate tissues. Using novel collective cell behavioral assays and the skin as a model, we find that emergent biophysical properties arise at the ‘supra’cellular scale during organ development. Such emergent properties then serve to shape the skin. Our findings indicate that epigenetic processes beyond the cell scale can organize morphogenesis in vertebrate tissues. Finally, uncovering such epigenetic processes has allowed us to provide an account of morphogen function that re-envisions canonically accepted roles of these chemical cues.