Fashion's paradox: Who should be seated front row?

Surely you have noticed the paradox of the front row at fashion shows. The amount of media coverage dedicated to celebrities arriving at fashion week presentations sees photographers snapping away at the head count of mostly paid-to-watch celebrities, wearing designer-borrowed outfits that are instantly broadcast the world over. It's all so fabricated and routine, gone are the days when fashion weeks were a simple presentation of the new season, seen only by relevant press, fashion critics, buyers and clients.

Ready-to-wear has morphed into ready-to-be-seen, with more consumer column inches covering celebrities by association than a veritable fashion critique of what's on show. The autumn/winter 2015 shows were particularly poignant in the debate about who these shows are for, with an overload of reality television stars obscuring the real purpose of fashion week, complete with their babies in tow. So who is that should be seated front row?

The front row is the equivalent of advertising space

The answer is simple. The front row is advertising space for brands. It's a business transaction not dissimilar to sport stars making paid for appearances. So when Michelle Williams swooshes in at Louis Vuitton, it's not that she happened to be walking the streets of Paris at 10am. The same goes for Jennifer Connolly, Diana Agron, Chloe Moretz, Selena Gomez, Fan Bingbing or Kate Mara, all wearing carefully curated outfits of the new season. Ditto for the Kardashian clan, who were seen at practically every major presentation, attracting hordes of photographers and a media frenzy equivalent to the arrival of the Pope.

The best view of the catwalk is no longer reserved for those who need to see the models at close range in order to do their jobs - either by journalists covering the collections, or buyers who need to interpret the key looks to place commercial yet relevant buys for the season.

As the audience is becoming more and more handpicked, brands are reluctant to confirm the price paid for celebrity attendance. A realistic estimation is that figures go as high as 100,000 pounds. Back in 2012 Chanel paid a reported 60,000 pounds for Katy Perry to sit on the front row, and celebrities are keen to cash in on the coverage, especially if they have a film to plug, an album to promote, or simply the desire to stay in the news. Why turn down private jets, luxury suites and free shopping sprees of the world's most desirable brands? Wouldn't anybody go if offered the opportunity?

But not all designers have bought into the celebrity culture. Back in 1999, Alexander McQueen refused to invite Victoria Beckham to his show, arguing that her presence would be an unwelcome distraction. ‘I can’t get sucked into that celebrity thing because I think it’s crass,’ he said at the time. So too Celine and Rick Owens are not sending news bulletins to the media about who attended their shows. Some designers prefer to keep their invitations for the industry, although these are rare.

The reality is that business prevails and the front row is exactly that: a business transaction that is lucrative with guarantees of global headlines. If we're in the business to sell clothes, isn't that what fashion shows are for?