At the recent Vivienne Westwood show or Lakmé Fashion Week, seasoned editors now find themselves getting a perspective from the second row. Social media has redefined who society’s power brokers are at glitzy dos. And digital influencers are top picks

No name drops, just hashtags and collabs. Famous people behind the velvet rope at an exclusive party or a fashion show today aren’t just editors, actors or socialites, but also someone who commands their own digital community. 

Take a look at the front row (frow) seatings at the Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW) — which marked its 25th anniversary in Mumbai this March — as well as the Vivienne Westwood show that took place here last month. The frow today includes Bollywood and OTT stars, and digital creators, in addition to the usual mix of editors, buyers and clients. Even at the extravagant Ambani wedding, the biggest actors and politicians were rubbing shoulders with digitally famous faces from India and the world, right from fashion influencer Komal Pandey to creator-couple, Young Emperors. So how did the party pages evolve from exclusive parties for select circles to fodder for doom scrolling on our phones?’

Karan Johar, Amitabh Bachchan, wife Jaya, son Abhishek, Shrishti Behl, Goldie Behl, Sonali Bendre seated in the front row at a show by Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla in 2016. File pic/Satej Shinde

Paid coverage, both in print as well as on social media, has moved the party page online. Once, there were exclusive parties for a select few in the city, and we only caught a glimpse of them on Page 3 the next day. These were the high-heeled society elites, the power brokers of Mumbai high society who inspired Madhur Bhandarkar’s film Page 3 about 20 years ago. Now, parties have turned into “events”, and all it takes to appear on the guest list is a robust following on Instagram.  

Jewellery designer, former Miss India and a famous face on the party pages, Queenie Singh says, “When I was a model we never gave a thought to making it to a guestlist. At the time, everybody was dying to have us at their party. We had the best parties, and those invited were close friends, achievers, a mix of socialites and the business community. These were private parties, there were no parties organised by PR. Page 3 didn’t have people who paid to be in the media. There is no Page 3 today.” 

Model, actor and TV personality Malaika Arora in the front row for Amit Aggarwal’s show at Lakme Fashion Week 2025 at Jio Convention Center in BKC on March 28. Pic/Satej Shinde

It’s been a while since Bollywood paparazzi images have taken over the party pages, says Singh. The other big difference, she says, is that magazines and print media were big then, and digital is big now. “Editors and models were well known then as they were few and far between. Today, anybody and everybody is a model. Editors are respected even today, but they were fewer in number earlier, so people knew who they were. There are so many digital platforms today, and just as many editors,” says Singh.

As a columnist, magazine editor, author and a former model, Shobhaa De has seen it all. Social media, she says, was the biggest game-changer that led to the rise of the influencer tribe. “There is no Page 3 any more. There is only sponsored content posing as editorial coverage. Anyone can be on the so-called Page 3! Attention-seekers with money are willing to shell out serious money just to be featured in the media. Editors are non-existent; credible columnists, a rapidly disappearing breed. Anybody and everybody can be an ‘authority’ on any subject — from politics to fashion to travel and food,” says De, mincing no words.

In the good old days, the front row was where one could spot the movers and shakers of society, such as Adi Godrej, his wife Parmeshwar Godrej, Shobhaa De and husband Dilip De, and Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh. File pic/mid-day archives

mid-day’s photo editor, Rane Ashish, recalls how photographing stars once required a very niche skill set: “Restaurants had no PR in those days, and we had to guess if a celebrity was inside based on the number plates of cars parked outside. There were very few hotspots, like Enigma at JW Marriott, AD Singh’s Olive. If a party started at 9 pm, we would be there till 11 pm so we didn’t miss a face. Then we’d come back to the office to develop the film roll.”

“Today,” he adds, “many people just walk into a salon or a restaurant to get their photos clicked outside, have a glass of water and then leave. And business owners don’t mind as they get the publicity.” 

mid-day’s photo editor Rane Ashish recalls how stars like Rakhi Sawant would oblige requests for candid shoots such as this one on a local train from Andheri to Bandra. File Pic/Rane Ashish

Page 3 party images have been replaced by airport looks, staged images outside select restaurants, brand events vetted by the marketing team, and photographers intimated in advance. The results — every photographer has the same image and there is no element of surprise. 

It worked the other way round back then, when photographers would build a connection with the stars, new and established, and request them to be clicked on a free day for special pap images that were thought through. He gives an example of capturing Rakhi Sawant — not near her home in Lokhandwala, but in a local train for a candid shot. Celebrities, too, agreed to these shoots in good humour as these pages were followed by the whole city.

Rahul Mishra, Queenie Singh, Meghna Shah and Pareina Thapar

The scene is chaotic today as there are so many stars, says Rane, who gets WhatsApp invites from managers to “cover” airport arrivals too. Coincidentally, Rane’s first day as a photographer on the ground in 1994 was at the airport, when Aishwarya Rai Bachchan landed after winning the Miss World pageant. Airport images were only for momentous occasions then, says Rane. 

It’s easier to get photographed now, as you no longer have to fight for limited print space; one just has to contact an Instagram photographer who will arrive at the spot. 

Queenie Singh, who is also the founder of skincare brand Beauty by BiE, says that today, if she wishes to host an event for her brand, her guestlist depends on the PR agency. Models and influencers are selected based on their social media following and whether they suit the brand’s image. “You have to scale up your brand, so we make a list from the business point of view,” she says.

So what is this new way of brand building that creates the trajectory for who gets famous? Meghna Shah, founder of Tandem Communication — a PR and communications company that works in multiple verticals including brands and designers such as Nykaa, Falguni and Shane Peacock, and Tarun Tahiliani — says brand storytelling changes in waves. “Page 3 was a wave up till 2010, as there was no other media platform at that time except for print. The only way to put your events and launch parties out there was with a good mix of glamorous faces, socialites and Bollywood. It was great while it lasted but with the advent of digital, everyone’s running their own page 3 on their Instagram,” she says.

Shah, who also works with different restaurants (including the now-shut old pap spot Indigo) says this shift is far more democratic, as it gives brands more venues and voices to tell their story. What helps is that there are more categories to choose from for cross-collaborations — beauty, skincare, sustainability, fashion, food, mixology and travel. “Page 3 was generic, whereas brands can curate their story in a far more compelling way to the right audience today. Also, the digital creator bubble is shifting towards micro-influencers, with a more authentic following and content they have cultivated mindfully,” says Shah. 

Front rows, too, now feature content creators as “category champions”, who are relevant voices, says Shah, adding though, that this needs to be curated in a mindful way.

Fashion designer Rahul Mishra has come a long way from when he made his debut at the GenNext show at LFW. Mishra has since moved on from pret wear to couture that has been worn by the likes of Zendaya, and has been showcased at Paris Haute Couture Week. With this transition, the curation of their guest list has evolved significantly, to reflect the luxury category in fashion. “In the beginning, the focus was on a broad spectrum of opinion leaders, including figures from entertainment, art, fashion, media, as well as key consumers and wholesale buyers,” he recalls. 

“Over time, particularly as we transitioned to haute couture, the guest list has become more selective, yet more specialised. As we’ve established ourselves as a senior Maison on the official fashion calendar, we’ve noticed a shift. We now see seasoned editors, rather than just fashion writers, attending our shows alongside our close friends from the entertainment industry, and celebrity stylists who have become integral to our brand. Our primary focus remains on inviting those who can truly appreciate the artistry behind our work, rather than solely prioritising visibility,” he adds. 

Mishra is one of the few designers who is narrowing his frow list, being selective of the audience he thinks is apt for his brand. But the industry, as a whole, seems to be moving in the other direction. India no longer has just two major fashion weeks, and many businesses, regardless of whether they are a design house, have fashion shows. Several are organised with the goal of selling passes to people who want an Insta brag moment, and to attract sponsor money. And when the goal is not fashion but promotion, and the front row is for sale, it becomes a problem, says De. 

There are many who equate merely flaunting labels with style, and so they buy “overpriced — and often pretty ridiculous — outfits” with hopes of getting seated in the front row, says De. This has led to a nexus between certain designers, stylists, PR agencies to push clients into the limelight at such events, creating a false aura of exclusivity. “It is a world dominated by wannabes looking for an in. Celebrityhood cannot be bought. It has to be earned through genuine achievement. Front row snobbery died when the person seated next to you bought the privilege. Reverse snobbery of not attending non-stop fashion ‘weaks’, is far more chic,” scoffs De. 

Pareina Thapar, co-founder of communications company Longform, says the front row is always decided in the manner of who has influence, which changes as media evolves. Thapar, who works with several art galleries, hospitality properties, and designers including Sabyasachi Mukherjee, says that the consumer today is no longer limited to metro cities, but the people with a phone anywhere — tier two cities and beyond are a rapidly growing base today. If communication can reach a much larger net of people, through the right medium, there’s nothing wrong with it, she says. “Today everyone has access to a certain audience because the aspiration for a certain way of life has grown in the country. It’s almost wrong to name a consumer by the city today as the consumer is anywhere in the country. Today, a blogger is also subscriber-based, so that’s also a different kind of a media house for a brand,” she says.

“Instead of comparing things to the way they used to be, we need to accept that change is always constant. We can have a dialogue on what is correct or incorrect for the brand as per its identity but we cannot question change. Billboard, print, or digital creators, a brand needs to have a vision of the balance they wish for,” Thapar sums up.

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