Fashionista.com Thinks They Know It All

Feb 8, 2010Fashion

What fashionista.com does not know is the nuance that comes with seating a front row.

I just was reading through the list on fashionista.com about what fashion brands will pay to sit front row during New York Fashion Week. What a crock of hooey. Let me start by saying that part of my business is orchestrating front row talent for assorted companies and none of what they are reporting is true. What I think fashionista.com did was call a slew of garden variety talent agents and received generic quotes. One thing you learn about casting a front row is…never call agents. They love throwing out ridiculous nilly-willy high prices. And that does not even get you anywhere near guaranteeing the talent. Booking talent for front row or any other event or project is not as cut and dry as buying something online. There is no Celebrity Ebay. Sure, people think we have celebrities chilling on ice, that you crack them off one by one when you need to spice up an event, or dazzle the press. But it is a far more complicated process, one that takes years of cultivating relationships. There is much navigating the waters of publicists with agendas, managers with different agendas and the talent, who usually are the nicest people, but the handlers make you think otherwise. Stressful? Sure. What isn’t during Fashion Week?

Does fashionista.com no longer consider Madonna a celebrity?

And as for Marc Jacobs “banning” celebrities from his front row. Is Madonna no longer a celebrity? She was there, with her twinkie in tow. And Perez Hilton surely considers himself a celebrity and he was there as well. Look, don’t take it out on me. If the press would commit to attending shows without a friggen tip sheet, then maybe the crush of celebrity might not be in such high demand. If the press covered the designers for the actual collection, then we’d be in a different game. But we’re not Blanche, we’re not. Yes, talent is a high stakes game. But the economy crashed, remember? And to throw out those numbers like 100 grand for Rihanna and 80 grand for Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen is silly. I mean…get a grip. Who on Earth would pay the Olsen Twins anything when they have two collections showing at Fashion Week? It is utter nonsense.

10 responses to “Fashionista.com Thinks They Know It All”

  1. alexandra says:

    You know Abe once again you hit a home run! It's funny I feel like the only one who picks shows based on the collection not on how popular it is. I have NO real desire to oggle the celebrities or to be in front row at the most popular show. I'm much more interested in seeing raw talent. It's been all downhill since they let the celebs outshine the real talent. Thank god there are designers like Chado Ralph Rucci who are known to put their best customers in front row. That's putting your priorities straight. Now…if only I could find more like minded peeps like us.

  2. Jed says:

    Thanks for taking the time to explain. I was very surprised reading that article and want to know where did she really get those numbers?

    Jennifer Lopez (circa 2005: $80,000; circa 2010: $30,000) – Still an A-list star, but unlike the others, she's willing to accept only $30,000 – WTF!!!

    Lindsay Lohan (circa 2006: $60,000; circa 2010; UNINVITED) -She's FREE and still an A-list while Hillary Duff is a B-list but gets $40,000

    Colin Firth (pre-A Single Man: $5,000; post-A Single Man: $15,000)- so if he wins the Oscar Best Actor, will the price becomes $25,000 or higher?

    There are A-list celebrities willing to take $$$ lower than those on the B-list?

    What a bunch of crap!!!

  3. […] about regarding the fees that celebrities are charging to attend the New York fashion shows. Fashionista.com did a really sloppy report on these supposed costs and random facts about talent. I just read Cathy […]

  4. […] about regarding the fees that celebrities are charging to attend the New York fashion shows. Fashionista.com did a really sloppy report on these supposed costs and random facts about talent. I just read Cathy […]

  5. […] about regarding the fees that celebrities are charging to attend the New York fashion shows. Fashionista.com did a really sloppy report on these supposed costs and random facts about talent. I just read Cathy […]

  6. That female is just gorgeous, I mean mostly all seems to think she is not to clever but that's just an act, it does require some skills to become one of the most famous people in the world.

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