Seeing Fashion Week from the First Row

It was the fifth day of New York Fashion Week, and Laura Brown, the new editor in chief of InStyle magazine, had to be at the Zimmermann show on West 46th Street in five minutes.Unfortunately, she, her driver and her S.U.V. were stuck behind a Prince Lumber truck that could not seem to maneuver out of its parking spot on Washington Street.“What are you trying to do, lumber man?” she said. “We’ve got fashion to go to!”Wearing an animal print orange prom dresses from Ganni and Saint Laurent stiletto boots, Ms. Brown was perched on the edge of her seat. The truck finally pushed out of the spot.And immediately began trying to get back in. “Don’t try to get back in there, buddy,” Ms. Brown said. “Prince Lumber, it’s not your day.”Continue reading the main story

She took a sip of iced coffee, a routine unaffected by the 38-degree weather. “I know it’s weird,” she said. “I don’t mind hot coffee, but this feels like a refreshing beverage.”So far that morning she had seen The Row (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s collection) and sat in the front row at Carolina Herrera. “I bolted backstage after the show,” she said. “I’m always the first one. Security is like, ‘What are you doing?’ I’m like, ‘I’m a friend! Not going to harm her!’”Ms. Brown hoped that her day would end by 10 p.m. She goes to certain designers’ dinners during fashion week — Diane von Furstenberg’s, for example — but mostly avoids late-night parties. “I’m a bit of a nana,” she said.

“I burn bright and I flame out early.”Still, she had made time for one big bash the week before: InStyle’s party for its March issue, the first that she had edited from front to back since leaving her post as executive editor of special projects at Harper’s Bazaar in August.Finally, a quarter of an hour later, the truck found its way out and the S.U.V. headed uptown.Over the course of her 15 years in New York, Ms. Brown, who is from Sydney and still speaks with a pronounced Australian accent, has become a prominent figure in the fashion industry, appearing as a judge on Bravo’s “The Fashion Show,” interviewing Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton for Harper’s Bazaar and accumulating 119,000 followers on her Instagram account, where she posts photos with friends like Karolina Kurkova and Christy Turlington.Yet Ms. Brown insists that when it comes to street style, she is not the one the photographers are after.“People are always rushing past me to get to Nicky Hilton or something,” she said.

As part of her mission at InStyle, Ms. Brown wants the magazine to become more relatable, and to reflect the hybrid roles of many of today’s celebrities. Hence, the inclusion of contributors like the writer and actress Lena Dunham, the fashion blogger and entrepreneur Leandra Medine, and the actress and model Hari Nef. Hence also, the cover star, Emily Ratajkowski, a model and actress known for her activist side (she campaigned for Bernie Sanders last year).When the car drew close to the Zimmermann show, Ms. Brown jumped out and jogged-slash-teetered down the remaining block, arriving with minutes to spare.

After the show, she dashed off in search of the bathroom.It took her 15 minutes to get there.On the way, she chatted with Malcolm Carfrae, former head of communications for Ralph Lauren; congratulated Nicky Zimmermann; and posed for photos with Olivia Culpo, 2012 winner of the Miss USA pageant, and Shay Mitchell, an actress.Back outside, her hobnobbing duties done, Ms. Brown grabbed Ruthie Friedlander, who runs InStyle’s website, and Sam Broekema, the magazine’s accessories director, and hopped back into her car.Inside, Mr. Broekema and Ms. Brown flipped through a stack of photos: accessories for the May issue that needed Ms. Brown’s approval.“It’s the new Panther from Cartier,” Mr. Broekema said in a French accent.“Can you say ‘Panther’ again?” Ms. Brown said. “The only French I know is ‘I’m tired’ or ‘I need my wine’ French.”