How Much People Really Get Paid to Attend Fashion Shows

Updated on March 4, 2015 at 12:01 PM

Every season you can expect designers to have front rows stocked with A-list celebrities — some more than others, of course. Ever wonder why? Who What Wear has your answer. Read on for the inside scoop on how much designers are doling out to have the hottest celebrities, editors, and bloggers front and center at their runway shows.

Newsflash: Fashion shows are not just opportunities for designers to debut their latest creations in a public space. They are also money-making opportunities for everyone from A-list celebrities to rising bloggers—some of whom get paid insane amounts just to sit front row for the 15 minutes it takes the show to run its course.

We crunched the numbers and, based on our research, have come up with is a fairly comprehensive list of what everyone gets paid to attend fashion shows—as well as how much the average person pays for a ticket.

Without naming names, if you think of a short list of top celebrities, chances are they’re getting paid upwards of $100,000 to sit front row. The catch? They have to agree to attend only that designer’s show. Rumors even flew one year that a major celebrity was paid an astonishing $800,000 to shoot photo ops at one designer show—but those rumors were swiftly knocked down.

For celebrities who are household names, but not as high-wattage as the A-listers, there's still a decent buck to be made to sit front row, to the tune of anywhere from $40,000 to $60,000.

The fee for huge A-list names to sit front row drops dramatically if those celebrities decide to attend more than one show. Of course, if you go to multiple shows at $50,000 a pop, the take-home is substantially greater than a single exclusive.

For stars who are definitely recognizable, but not as in-demand as their more famous counterparts, a shabby $15,000 awaits for their presence at any given runway show. (Yes, that was sarcasm.)

The precise amount big-name bloggers make to sit front row at shows is actually not really known—because they don't talk about it. What is known is that for a single appearance dressed in a particular brand during fashion week, big-time bloggers can be paid up to $10,000. You can presume that an appearance at a runway show would run the same amount.

Often considered the lowest rung on the celebrity totem pole, your average reality star still makes a pretty penny attending fashion shows. They're looking at around $5,000 per appearance.

Bloggers who are successful but haven't quite reached It-girl status just yet can still make a decent amount of money, usually around $2,000 to $3,000 to sit front row.

Back in 2013, a handful of New York Fashion Week tickets went up for grabs on Craigslist at $1,600 a pop. They can also go as low as $180. Depending on the designer, the average cost for a ticket falls anywhere between $200 and $1,000.

Here we find a reprieve from all the money being tossed around to fill the audience at any given runway show: Editors are paid nothing. They're expected to attend as many shows as possible without so much as two dimes to rub together—but, you know, it’s kind of their jobs.

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