AREA Internship - Trims, Embellishments, and Accessories
Only one month after moving to New York City, I landed my first industry internship with AREA, a luxury ready-to-wear and couture brand under the creative direction of Piotrek Panszczyk. I had previously connected with this brand during my undergraduate at The Ohio State University, so it felt circular to work for the creative team. I participated in two runway shows- their first since the Covid-19 lockdowns with F/W ‘22 in September, and then S/S ‘23 in February. I also worked on the development of pieces for Pre-Fall ‘23, F/W ‘23, and Resort ‘24.
This was a very hands-on internship- I worked on pieces that would walk in the shows, fixing celebrity client repairs, and creating artwork for embellishment using Illustrator. It was rewarding to see something you’ve had a part in come to a head at the shows and photoshoots. I really enjoyed working with the AREA team and I got to study every aspect of how they ran their business up close.
AREA F/W 23 Fox top
F/W 23 Flats
F/W 23 Flats
AREA Pre-Fall 23 Butterfly Dress
Pre-Fall 23 artwork rendering on Illustrator.
AREA Pre-Fall 2023
D raping of custom patterns with artwork.
Pre-Fall 23 drape of finished dress
Backstage at F/W 22. This was the first garment I saw on my first day at the studio.
F/W 22 shoes. We used hot glue to hold the cone in the right place on the shoe while snipping off stones from the suede.
Trim on Janelle Monae's Vanity Fair Oscars Afterparty look.
Janelle Monae wearing AREA SS23
Hand-cut coque feathers hot glued and colored pink for S/S 23.
Spray-painted headpiece for S/S 23.
Mock up for future collection.
More mock ups.
Hand-sewing cupchain embellishment.
Look Board for the Runway.
Pattern digitization using Gerber technology.
Pattern manipulation using Gerber software.
Hotfixing a panel for F/W 23.