Ten years in and Area’s Piotrek Panszczyk has his collection development down to an exact formula—a group of terrific novelty jeans; a groovy print; crystal-embellished; party-ready separates that are sexy but never basic thanks to their interesting fabrication. And yet the results are always unexpected thanks to a belief in creative experimentation that always pushes an idea beyond its usual limits. Pre-fall found Panszczyk and his team thinking about romance and femininity.
“On one side we had hearts, and were looking at things like broderie anglaise and fabrics that feel super feminine, light and summery, and on the other we had a lot of leather biker references and were trying to merge these two worlds together,” he explained. “So we made a heart motif and laser cut it on bonded leather.” It was especially successful when applied to a classic motorcycle jacket, which he paired with a swingy A-line “ruffled” skirt, and laser cut leather “leggings” (his take on fishnet tights).
Together, the pieces paid low-key homage to Azzedine Alaïa and perhaps that’s why they seemed destined to end up on one of the many pop girlies who will be releasing records and going on tour this summer; but it’s easy to see the pieces by themselves, especially the jacket, having a long life in the closet of us “regular folk.” Denim came in a light stonewash and pure blue hue, and the it-style of the season was a pair of wide-leg jeans in both washes with an intarsia he.
