Area's Couture Debut
Photos by Chris French, courtesy of Area
Some of you may have watched in awe (or horror) when the New York-based label Area dissected one of their Madame Grès-inspired gowns for Vogue last year. With tweezers and tiny scissors, they snipped and peeled away to reveal the layers of insane work that goes into creating one of their pieces. Despite showing on a ready-to-wear calendar, the couture-level craftsmanship was always there, but now the brand is making a conscious effort to break way from any sort of tradition with their couture debut.
In a video call this week, designers Beckett Fogg and Piotrek Pansczczyk spoke of demystifying the rarefied nature of couture and emphasized how important it was for their clientele to know that they could have something custom made for them, without the hoops to jump through or the unfathomable price points of a legacy European couture house.
For their first couture collection, the sculpted Swarovski crystal-encrusted forms from their Grès-inspired gowns returned, but the stiffer foundation of cords were made lighter through carved foam. The result is softer, more wearable in the way it moves with the body. Dresses made from strands of sheer silk organza paillettes, hand-turned and edged in crystals, showed a lighter dimension that complemented their more sculptural silhouettes like the geometric Capucci-tinged accordion gowns.
The Area team fitting a couture dress on model Yasmin Wijnaldum in New York City. Photo courtesy of Area.
The duo also hopes to de-stigmatize creations from anywhere other than Paris as somehow less-than, highlighting the work of their ateliers in India, some of which have also created embroideries for Dior. In one look modeled by Precious Lee, one local Russian artisan ended up hiring a whole team from her community to help crochet and macramé a hooded cape encrusted with gems.
On the business side, their recent shift to a more realistic delivery calendar has been nothing short of a success, with their RTW01 drop well on its way to selling out. Prior, wholesale accounts were calling a 30% sell-through a success, ignoring mountains of unsold merchandise left behind. That boldness in setting their own terms, not to mention their cult clientele and immense celebrity support, will no doubt pay off in their new couture venture.
Watch the full Area Couture 2021 video below: