A crowd of photographers at Louis Vuitton, Paris, March 2.   (Photo: Christopher Anderson)

All these photographers are in search of the same thing—a couple of crisp, clear shots that will get worldwide pick up and be their bread-and-butter until next season. Sometimes pre-show tension gets so thick in the photographers’ stands that fights break out over who sits and stands where. That’s how one of fashion’s subcultures gets the job done; others, like New York designer Maria Cornejo, follow the routines of daily life (make the kid’s lunch, clean out the cat’s litter box) while hammering out the details of her show. The young models (like our face of the season, Ali Stephens) take catnaps in the makeup chair and goof around backstage to keep their nerves in check. But once that first heel hits the runway, the jitters stop and it’s all business.