After a brief hiatus from fashion (in 2014, Horyn left The New York Times, where she was lead fashion critic for 16 years), Horyn is back as New York Magazine’s critic-at-large. Like her British counterpart Suzy Menkes, Horyn is known for taking no punches. She’s been banned from Giorgio Armani and Carolina Herrera shows thanks to her frank reviews, engaged in bizarre feuds with Lady Gaga and the late Oscar de la Renta, who called her a 3 day-old hamburger in retaliation, but no one writes quite like her.
Fashion might change its mind every season—flats to heels, florals to knits, pink to blue—but there’s always one constant: the front row. Sure, one blogger might be pushed back to second for this season’s hottest new thing, but for the most part, a consistent set of faces gets the best view of each new collection as it marches down the runway. Here’s a primer on who you should know, and why they’ve earned their spot.
