ALL EYES ON AREA, LITERALLY!  

Area, the reference brand of celebrities such as Taylor Swift or Meghan Thee Stallion has  presented his latest collection under the umbrella of New York Fashion Week. Founded in 2013 by  Parson School of Design graduates Beckett Fogg and Piotrek Panszcyk, the firm started with the  task of enlightening the world of fashion and bringing back creativity to the runways.  

Area’s runway shows are the perfect example of the new way of making fashion. Eye-catching,  and a mix of salable and forward-thinking proposals. The company has already been in the  fashion game for 10 years, which makes this, a pivotal moment of growth and expansion. With  more than half a million followers on Instagram and with a strategically neat editorial vision, the  brand sure knows how to make a show.  

What makes Area so exceptional is its ability to showcase conceptually innovative runway  collections while adhering that same aesthetic to its more commercially successful, if non traditional, products on its site. For this collection, the New Yorker brand partnered with Amazon  luxury stores, making the collection instantly available for purchase thanks to the power of the  mega-retailer.  

The holistic Starrett-Leigh building in New York became the ideal stage for a subtly bold collection  thanks to its theatrical high ceilings and enormous windows overviewing the Hudson River.  Craftsmanship, innovative materials, and a mastered embellishment technique were the  ingredients of the ideal cocktail that Area’s collection resulted to be. Panzsczyk’s collection used  the 20s «Google eyes” as a visible thread to add cohesiveness and tie the collection together,  though the color blocks were equally coherent.  

Those eyes took different shapes and forms, being reinterpreted throughout the show in natural,  smooth transitions that ranged from Jacquard flow long capes in Dalmatian-like prints, to halter  neck dresses whose flower-shaped cut-outs added a sexy touch to a classic line coat that  resembled the 60s style of Jackie Kennedy, the epitome of fashion royalty. The brand’s whimsical,  editorial element was introduced by the shift dress’s floating eyes, which resembled flowers  emerging from the grass or ostrich feathers appearing in vintage couture gowns, which makes the  dress easily marketable for red carpets or magazine editorials. 

The sixties seemed to be present in the the daring silhouettes that lured the attendees to  daydream about the futuristic youthful trend that filled London during the free-spirited sixties.  While the cutouts left space for creative and inventive sexiness.  

Some of the pioneers in that future and space-robotic trend were Courrèges and the Spanish  visionary Paco Rabanne, whose influence seems present in the rabannesque treatment of cut-out 

leather whose metallic appliqués enhanced the pieces and proved the brand’s compromise to  innovation and exploration of craftsmanship. The fits were made current with leather balaclavas  that seemed to be crowned as the predilect accessory in this edition of New York Fashion Week.  

Subtle pink flower ruffles introduced three twiggy-like outfits that traced us back again to the 60s  fashion editorials through contradictory opulently simple flowers shaped in pink background.  Many of the outfits, though similar, presented slight differences, showcasing the commercial  vision of the brand. 

Denim, a significant component of the brand ID, was also part of the conversation. But as usual,  they approached the fabric in a novel manner. This season’s was a dazzling, opulent kind of jeans,  layered with chunky circular jewels, whose movement was amplified as they collided with one  another, gifting the jeans movement and grace. Similarly, Taylor Swift wore one of Area’s cut-out  “crystal slit jeans” to the Super Bowl on Sunday, minutes after the show ended, proving once  more the viral material this brand is made of.  

With this collection catching the attention of the fashion adepts it seems clear that viral or not, a  brilliant future is awaiting for the emerging brand. 

“Beauty is not just in the eye of the beholder, but also in the shared experience between the artist  and the audience”, concluded the brand.

Words: @edugilhurta