My job is to report from the front lines. No, not those ones. As fashion director at The Times my patch is the front row. Not exactly a conflict zone, you might think. But you’d be surprised.
I have borne witness to stand-up rows over seating. And even at their most placid, fashion shows are about power. It is not only about who is sitting where — although there is that, with knobs on. (Customers will be averaging a six-figure spend a season at a given label to secure themselves a position on the so-called “frow”, and the hierarchy among journalists is brutally enacted by sudden seating demotions and promotions.) It is also about the socio-cultural leverage a particular brand has at a particular moment.
