For the reveal of Areas Resort ‘23 Collection, renowned designer Piotrek Panszczyk launches into a rich world of resort inspirations juxtaposing the hush of the sea with atypical archetypes. Nodding to an archival spirit, recurring nautical themes emerge through the marinere stripes, shells, and ropes used in the construction of this collection. Compared to Spring 2022 – a crystal focused sexy glam debut – this season challenges history welcoming symbolic tropes and metal mussels. Turning a contemporary aesthetic on its head, Panszczyk transmits objects not inherently sexy into something glamorous and full of fantasy. 

Mussel Flowers 

A starting point for Area this season were clams, specifically the mussel. This particular clam is a reference to Panszczyk’s childhood in south west Holland, a region plentiful with mussel fishing. Through exploring the mussel, the house transmits its petal-like appearance into flower motifs – developing these mussel flowers into handmade metal jewelry pieces and garments, as inserts and cut outs or as a seamen’s bucket hat. Next to exploring this motif through embroidery and hardware, Area softens their approach by crafting the mussel shape into soft bustier bodices of evening gowns and padded embroidered sequin tops.

Mariners Rope 

During his research, Panszczyk locates various versions of rope translating the idea of rope intertwining into engineered patterning; seen in sleek jersey dresses and relaxed denim separates in  a bi wash treatment. For evening, Area recreated intertwining rope patterns by hand embroidering thousands of double faced sequins in opposite directions to create the depth of a rope. This can be seen in a rich gunmetal silver or fuchsia. 

Seaweed 

The idea of seaweed was translated through fine embroidery, combining sequin work with hand painting, hand cut metal leafs and fine encrusted crystals to mimic the elegance of seaweed dancing in water.