Area celebrates its 10th anniversary, while eveningwear makes a point at NYFW

Things got seriously political on the opening day of New York Fashion Week. This season, the event started with a rally by the fashion industry, dubbed ‘Fashion For our Future, and featured First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. Hot ticket of New York designer Willy Chavarria gave his guests a pint-sized copy of the constitution and sported an ACLU sweatshirt.

Area Spring/Summer 2025 collection – Courtesy

At Area, where the brand celebrated its 10th anniversary, creative director Piotrek ​Panszczyk also made a political statement. In conjunction with show sponsor Tinder, the brand teamed up again with Bans Off Our Bodies, a national abortion rights campaign. It turned it into a design motif for a stunning collection that fused Area’s high-concept craft with more wearable styles with plenty of interest.

Backstage Panszczyk spoke to FashionNetwork.com about the season’s approach, which played with a hand motif nodding back to the campaign and the design team.

“The season was about looking back on who we are and what we are about, and we come back to identity,” the designer said, adding, “It can be annoying to deal with, but it can also be a tool to build yourself up and start a new life or become who you don’t want to be.”

Part of that identity involves Panszczyk and his design team. “That idea of identity led to a full bloom of this collection, becoming about the hands that made these clothes. All the hands you see are from the atelier; photocopied, scanned, and turned into a print and a 1000 different things,” he said.

Indeed, the hands appeared as a photo print on denim and nylon styles. In a nod to artists Bruce Conner and Man Ray, silver metallic hands appeared as patches. Never afraid to lean into technology for the sake of clothing design, Panszczyk further described how the hand motif morphed from a 2D idea to 3D creations for some couture-level pieces towards the end of the show.

“We turned the hand idea around to make it volume. I looked at 60s-era feathered couture from Balenciaga, something I always return to. We printed them on double-face nylon, laser cut them, and then folded them into origami structures that became feather structures,” he explained. While a full-length style oozed 60s glam, a shorter yellow style based on the ubiquitous rubber dish glove was giving a chic Big Bird vibe.

“One was super high-end conceptual chic, and the other was based on something we have to deal with, such as dish gloves,” he said of the contrast.

Hands weren’t the only body part he referenced. Eyes became metal hardware on textiles or became the garment itself in another 60s reference by interpreting chainmail. Another homage Panszczyk cited when probed was Azzedine Alaia. Many of the looks boasted oversized shoulder moto-style jackets with a cinched waist topped off with a demonstrative biker cap, especially in leather, a zebra-print woolen TK, and an extravagant crystal tubular-bead embellished version.

While the latter is exhibit A when it comes to Area’s awe factor, the designer maintains that anyone can stand out in Area, from the made-to-order couture-style pieces to the ready-to-wear.

“That is really what the Area girl is; she just wants to be seen,” he furthered. He admitted when probed that the collection reached a nice balance of commercial and conceptual.

“With this collection, you cannot do everything all at once over a year; you have to train yourself to make real clothes and also train yourself to be a craftsman. The push and pull of both came together this season. You had something novel on one side, but you could take it as a T-shirt and make a statement,” he said.

Area has just the right amount of both to build a solid brand for another ten years and more.

Christian Siriano

Eveningwear that isn’t technically haute couture has a tough time vying for attention on the ready-to-wear calendar.

Christian Siriano – Spring-Summer2025 – Womenswear – Etats-Unis – New York – ©Launchmetrics/spotlight

Thus, it’s a good thing that Christian Siriano has a legion of fans who would love him if he stitched together a burlap sack and called it fashion. The designer rose through the ranks of reality TV and has made himself a wealthy man via the celebrity part of his persona. This also translates into star-studded front rows. This season, Selma Blair, Cyndi Lauper, Tiffany Haddish, Darren Criss, and Lil’ Kim, among others, were in attendance at his show held at the ballroom at the Pierre Hotel.

Perhaps the grandeur was intended to soften the delivery of his risqué style this season. Siriano leaned heavily into the transparent trend with plenty of unlined lace numbers bearing undergarments. Despite the panty party on display, the lux and elevated fabrics kept it classy. But it was also sweet as the designer referenced fairy tale heroes and heroines such as Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, and The White Snake.

He proposed lacy styles and other metallic beaded styles for men and suggested that a sleeveless vest and palazzo pants could do double duty as a gown look for men. It’s not a bad move, and it’s easy to imagine that some of Hollywood’s more adventurous dressers could see themselves in one of these ensembles.

Of course, there was also plenty of drama with volume, either as a handlebar-style breastplate bodice a la Mugler or sweeping hemlines. Coco Rocha downplayed some of her theatrics on the runway but made an iconic ending by walking with Jessica Stam, the pair like a vision of two phoenixes rising from the ashes.

House of Giles

In their second season and debut NYFW presentation, Gilles Mendel and daughter Chloe Mendel showed their couture-level collection and made-to-order pieces in a familiar fashion setting: the penthouse at Lincoln Center. Having built up a private one-on-one business since selling his namesake brand, Gilles Mendel, the duo was encouraged to launch the label last season quietly.

House of Gilles Spring 2025 collection – Courtesy

This season, the collection was inspired by ballet (Mendel is making the costumes for the upcoming season opener of the New York City Ballet, hence the location) and the work of photographer Ruven Afanador.

Realizing the inspiration, the photographer was reunited with model Christina Kruse for the campaign. In a black-and-white color palette, the dress motifs included mermaid hemlines, light-as-air pleated chiffon, asymmetrical one-shoulder bodices, corsetry, and feather headpieces that father and daughter fashioned together in their studio.