Area always gets us excited for sparkling dresses that celebrate showing skin with confidence. For the New York brand’s first couture show, designers Beckett Fogg and Piotrek Panszczyk tapped trailblazer Precious Lee and catwalk favorite Yasmin Wijnaldum to model a body-positive, 14-look collection that can be described as sexy, fantasy couture.
“Haute Couture originally started in Paris in 1858 but looking deeper into history and tracing back to ancient civilizations, there has always been a deep connection and appreciation for craft and beauty,” Fogg and Panszczyk said in a press statement. “It’s like Haute Couture has been ingrained into our souls culturally expressed in different ways. Whether it be for religious purposes, or simply the innate need to create something beautiful.”
“With this couture collection we want to showcase our ability and dedication to creating beauty by hand. Every look in this collection has been developed over an extensive time of six months, and has been an ongoing collaboration between our studio in New York and our embroidery partners in India/globally. We are proud of all the hands that [were] involved in creating every single look, craft truly comes to fruition through a collaborative community and passion.”
Area couture spring/summer 2021 features the brand’s signature Swarovski-crystal-covered dresses and coordinated sets with more avant-garde silhouettes like accordion gowns, intricately crafted crochet designs, and layered paillettes made of silk organza. The collection was inspired by body-adornment rituals of ancient civilizations and the idea of couture being something that comes instinctively and intuitively to us as creative beings.
Ahead, take a closer look at the collection and the inspiration behind specific designs.