From Ateliers to iPhones, the Front Row Never Stopped Watching

Fashion week has always been, at its core, a room full of people looking closely at clothes, and how that room gets documented keeps changing. What began as private glimpses inside designer workrooms is now broadcast in real time to anyone with a screen. The runway itself hasn't moved; the distance between it and the audience has simply collapsed. Every generation gets its own record of the same instinct: dress up, take note, remember it later.

With reporting from Harper's Bazaar.