In Ways of Seeing, critic John Berger argues that “the eye of the other combines with our own eye to make it fully credible that we are part of the visible world…the reciprocal nature of vision is more fundamental than that of spoken dialogue.” Presumably, Piotrek Panszczyk, creative director of Area NYC, would agree. On the show notes for the Spring/Summer 2024 collection, which mimicked an optometry exam in format, the collection’s aim was stated loud and clear:
“...our designs reconstruct the interconnection between eyes, fashion and the observers who play an integral part in shaping the narrative…just as eyes observe, critique, and appreciate, our collection mirrors the evolving dynamics of viewership in the digital age…presenting a modern interpretation of dressing for both the viewer and self.”
Panszczyk doesn’t try to mirror reality explicitly, but rather, the designer and his team used shapes and lines to explore these inquiries. The collection’s starting point was the cartoonish 1920s googly eyes. The eye motif, something familiar and seemingly mundane, was abstracted and transformed into polka dots, Dalmatian prints, and the simple shape of a circle.
Courtesy of Addiction Tokyo
Courtesy of Addiction Tokyo
These symbols weren’t just seen in the garments; they influenced the beauty looks, too. Kanako Takase, lead makeup artist and global creative director for Addiction Tokyo, designed two looks for the show, one of which featured a striking graphic eye. Because part of the collection had a hyper-feminine 1960s mod feel, Takase wanted to create a sharp contrast with the first makeup look. Drawing on references from fashion illustrator René Gruau, Takase layered model’s eyes with swaths of black pigment using Addiction Tokyo’s The Eyeshadow Cream in Black Beach and The Eyeshadow Matte in Bad Card before bleaching the brows to punctuate the look.
The eye motif and its abstractions also inspired nail artist Naomi Yasuda. She created three different nail looks using Addiction Tokyo The Nail Polish in Pitch Black, The Arctic, and Polished Nude. “[The first look] is a natural sheer nude, the other one is a Dalmatian print, and the last one is a black dot with a gold ring wrapped around it and a crystal in the center,” she shares backstage.
Naomi Yasuda
Naomi Yasuda
Yasuda kept the base natural for the last look because she wanted the design to "really look like a piece of jewelry on your nail.” The looks, both makeup and nail art, helped to subtly conjure the collection’s mood, pushing and playing against the boundaries of the expected.