Fashion Week starts today, and it is a time of fierce competition, obsessing about what to wear, and sniping one-upmanship. And I’m not talking about the designers who will be showing or the models who will be taking part in the nearly 70 shows held from February 4 to 11 in billowing white tents at Bryant Park. Rather, it’s the editors from dozens and dozens of American and international fashion, beauty, and women’s magazines who will be that tense as they fiercely jockey for the best possible seats at the best shows.

“It is an absolute hierarchy about who sits where,” said Judy Licht, co-founder and commentator for Full Frontal Fashion, a weekly style program that covers the shows on the WE network. “It is the biggest display of raw ego you’ve ever seen, and even when you know how stupid it is, it is impossible not to get caught up in it.”

This year, sought-after shows include those held by favorites such as Carolina Herrera, Michael Kors, and Oscar de la Renta, as well as one held at the end of the week by actress Jennifer Lopez, who is launching a new line of upscale clothing. One magazine, Child, is even holding a show of its own highlighting children’s fashion, featuring celeb progeny like Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons’s 5 year-old daughter as well as teen star Linday Lohan’s younger siblings.

Of course, some magazine editors know their prime seats are assured. First among equals is Anna Wintour, the svelte diva-like editor in chief of Vogue and her large retinue of fashion editors who get the best seats at every show. A just-released tell-all biography of Ms. Wintour is even entitled “Front Row.”

Other editors guaranteed front-row status include Harper Bazaar’s Glenda Bailey, though the two, Ms. Wintour and Ms. Bailey, are never placed side by side. “Glenda is usually put across the aisle from Anna so they don’t even have to talk,” one editor who admits she occasion ally has ended up in “nosebleed” seats said. The largest tents can hold up to 1,200 at a well-attended show.

Some other magazines that usually get front-row seats are InStyle, W, and Elle. The new shopping magazines, Lucky, and Shop, Etc., along with British and French Vogue, also can get prime positions. Glamour, Allure, Marie Claire, and teen magazines like Seventeen and Jane also receive good seats at shows that feature young, edgy fashion.

Fern Mallis, the executive director of 7th on Sixth, which organizes the shows, says that the press, which includes newspaper reporters from throughout the country as well as Europe and Japan, apply to her organization for credentials. This year 1,800 editors and reporters have applied for accreditation. Their names are given to the designers’ public-relations directors who allot tickets. “The top magazines like Vogue work closely with the public relations directors and decide which market editors will go to which shows,” Ms. Mallis explained. Editors are called the night before and given their seat assignments with editors in chief in the best seats and market editors in the rows behind. Celebrities, top buyers, and private clients also get front-row perches.

And if an editor is not called? “It is a mess,” said one editor. “You have to stand in line before the show to get your seat and sometimes, when you finally fight your way to your seat, someone else is sitting there and won’t move. They pretend not to notice you. It can be very, very annoying.” Said Ms. Licht, “It’s like a hot restaurant. Sometimes people are thrown right out of their seats. It’s the ultimate degradation.”

Some editors dress for the tents, wearing clothes by the designer whose show they are attending. “You do try to look nice,” said the executive editor of Shop, Etc., Charla Krupp. “European fashion magazines take pictures of American editors, and there is so much television and paparazzi coverage today. You want to look good if someone asks you a question on camera,” Ms. Krup said. “Believe me, the only editors who are comfortable in their Blahniks or Jimmy Choo stilettos are the ones who are practically carried in by their assistants and carried out to a waiting limousine. Getting around inside the tent, it’s a lot like playing rugby,” Ms. Licht said.

Still, most editors wouldn’t miss being part of the scene. “It’s a great place for people-watching,” said the beauty and fashion director of MORE magazine, Lois Joy Johnson. “The shows never start on time. So everyone is around, looking at each other, checking out what they are wearing, drinking bottles of Evian, which are always being handed out, and talking on their cell phones.”

And there is a hierarchy for everything – even the goody bags that are handed out by the designers. Said Ms. Licht, “The really top editors just leave them for their assistants or if you really want what’s handed out you ram them into a suitcase. It isn’t considered cool to carry out what you’ve been given. Not cool at all.”

Said Ms. Johnson, “It’s the middle of winter, and most of us would like to dress in new spring clothes. And we’ve just come back from shooting clothes for our summer issues. We are going to shows to see what will be in style next fall and winter. I know it’s a little crazy. But that’s fashion.”