FADING faster from New York Fashion Week than the tents at Bryant Park are the A-list celebrities who used to fill their front-row seats.

With shows of spring fashions starting Sept. 5, organizers are scrambling to line up big names. The Fashionista.com Web site asks: “Have celebs abandoned Fashion Week?” and dishes that “p.r. BlackBerries” are buzzing “that, so far, there are way less celeb confirmations than in the past.”

Fashion insiders are quick to blame the MTV Video Music Awards in ...