What Happened When 3 Front Row Fashion Showgoers Decided To NOT Use Their Phones

It’s not an uncommon thing to hear those who occupy the front row at Fashion Week complaining about all the stuff they have to do during a show — tweet, Instagram, Boomerang, Snap, and Hyperlapse. It’s no wonder that during the final walk, usually accompanied by wild clapping from the audience, that there’s mostly dead silence, and a lot of held up iPhones. But this kind of social media stakeout hasn’t always been the norm — even a few years ago, it was rare to see a phone in the front row. Those who were committed to documenting the fashion without a professional camera had to do so with a pen and paper.

A few front row illustrators decided to buck the system in terms of documentation. With iPad Pros and Apple Pencils, they’ve sketched their favorite looks in real-time. Click through to see the exclusive images they’ve shared with us, and how it felt to be taking it old school (with forward-looking tech), while their seatmates were stressing out about toggling between apps.