The front row is the line of seats at the very edge of the runway at a fashion show, reserved for the guests a brand most wants to be seen with. It began as a practical matter: at the great Paris couture houses the clearest view of the clothes went to clients, retailers and often the designer’s own family. In the 1970s, when cameras were still rare, editors and buyers sketched the looks at speed, so an unobstructed sightline was essential.
Celebrities became regular front-row fixtures in the 1990s, followed by bloggers and then influencers. The seating chart is a diplomatic document. KCD, the agency behind the seating of many major shows, has described planning it on paper with colour-coded dot stickers for buyers, editors and friends, and keeping rival critics out of each other’s sightlines. Friends are now often placed side by side, partly because they post more when they sit together.