Fall 2013: View from the Skybox

Fashion Week is getting more democratic. And then again, a bit less. Here's how.

Time was, you had to be press or a store buyer to attend Fashion Week. Today, the coveted seats flanking a runway are open to bloggers and celebrities, too. And the doors are opening even wider. 

Now, more than ever before, you can buy your way into a fashion show. If you have an American Express card, that is. The company sells tickets to cardholders for more than a dozen shows at New York Fashion Week--including a CH Carolina Herrera show in Lincoln Center, the epicenter of Fashion Week, on February 13. Some of the lucky guests may even be invited up to the AmEx Skybox, a bird's eye view of the catwalk (Champagne is served!).

The offer is irresistible to fashion-lovers who lack an industry affiliation; at press time all but two shows were sold out.

An easier ticket to score, though also pricey? Charity runway shows such as "The Reality of Fashion," featuring an obscure designer's collection modeled by some not-at-all-obscure stars (Lil Kim, Janice Dickinson and other reality TV show personalities).

Second best to seeing a show in the flesh is to see it at the same time as people such as the young bloggers Bryan Boy and the Man Repeller. Live footage from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week runways shows--more than 50 in all--will stream here on StyleNetwork.com from February 7-14. Meanwhile, Peter Som and other to-be-determined designers will forego a public show of their Fall 2013 collection to instead broadcast  to the masses via Digital Fashion Shows. It's new this season.

So, while the Fall 2013 collections fashion can be seen by more people in real time than ever before, a front-row seat remains as elusive as ever.