Do celebs get paid to sit on the front row of fashion events?

Do celebs get paid to sit on the front row of fashion events? I must admit it was a little odd seeing One Directions Harry Styles cosying up with Burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese and Gold Medal winning athlete Victoria Pembleton at Burberrys show at London Fashion Week. But is there more to it?

According to The Hollywood Reporter, there’s alot more to it. As they argue celebs are actually getting paid to attend the events. The HWP reports:

"Spoiler alert: Few stars are attending just for the love of it anymore. There’s a reason A-listers plant their fashionable fannies at fashion shows (center front is the celebrity zone; editors get side front seats). It’s all about green — and we’re not talking the color of the season. Behind every Birkin bag is an agenda — and most are negotiated in advance, in a more corporate way than ever before. With major Hollywood talent agencies hiring personal appearance agents to negotiate these deals, stars promoting fashion shows have become a business similar to Olympians endorsing cereal."

 

It's been reported that Rihanna was paid £50k to attend Karl Lagerfelds AW12 collection in Paris and that "The Help" film star Jessica Chastain was paid almost £500k to do a selection of photos for an Armani show.   Fashionista.com published a pay list in 2010 indicating that Beyonce received up to £60k to be on a front row seat and both Blake Lively and Kim Kardashian were gifted almost £30,000 each. 

 

 

Again these are all rumours but if this were true you can't really blame the celebs taking a pay check and having a nice day out. But is it a marketing tool for the fashion houses. With Dita Von Teese attending the latest burberry show does this give a brand more column inches in the news papers and thus more exposure.