Fashion Designers Paying Celebrities To Attend Fashion Shows

Those celebrities you see sitting in the front row near the catwalk during fashion shows are often there because it pays to be a fashion loving celebrity.

The practice of paying celebrities to sit in the front row of fashion shows was called “abominable” by industry figure Nicole Farhi this week as she became the first industry insider to speak out against the practice.

Farhi tells the Daily Mail:

“It is so unprofessional. I have never paid a celebrity and I will never do it. It’s stupid.”

Nicole added:

‘What do they show you in the papers after a fashion show? Not the clothes, but the celebrities who are being paid to sit at the show.’

The practice of paying celebrities was most recently witnessed last month when designers at London Fashion Week attempted to compete for more than $160 million over a short period of time.

When speaking about the backlash she will likely receive Farhi responds:

“They will all hate me for it. I don’t give a s*** because I think it is abominable.”

In the meantime not all fashion houses pay celebrities, for example it’s widely known that Burberry refuses to pay celebrities for front row appearances.

Because fashion designers are not required to disclose paid relationships with celebrities who attend their shows it’s impossible to tell exactly which fashion houses are using celebrities to have their names splashed across the front of newspapers around the world.

Do you think fashion designers are acting properly by hiring celebrities to attend their fashion shows or should a disclosure be required?