Introduction to Nicholas Aburn
Nicholas Aburn is the new creative director of the New York label Area. Aburn took over the management of Piotrek Panszczyk, who co-founded the label with Beckett Fogg a little more than a decade ago and transformed it into a pivot point for American splendor, glamor, and imagination. The 37-year-old newcomer may not be a well-known name, but he comes with over a decade of experience in working with Tom Ford, Alexander Wang, and finally in Balenciaga’s Couture Studio.
Aburn’s Background and Experience
Aburn grew up in Maryland, but has spent most of his adult years in London and Paris and currently lives in Milan, where most of the production is set up in the region. He fell into fashion while watching Elsa Klensch on CNN with his mother. When it was time to go to school, his parents had different ideas. “They wanted me to apply to the schools of the Ivy League, but I secretly applied to Central Saint Martins [CSM]” He explains. He graduated in 2010 and remained to prove the MA course with the legendary Louise Wilson, who was famous for being demanding and demanding her students.
Aburn’s Career Path
As it turned out, Wilson failed him. "She liked me very much, she gave me a scholarship, but then the dynamics shifted because I wanted to do pretty real things – or at least things that refer to reality – and she was just not on board," he recalls. Fortunately, he was still able to show his collection in the exhibition "hidden in the back". Here David Bamber, Tom Fords, found him for many years of design studio director for Womenswear. "He actually said that he knew Louise hiding good students in the back, but I think he was just nice," he laughs. Aburn then went from his course to a failure to the first in his class to land a job.
Aburn’s Vision for Area
The first insight into Aburn’s vision took place in August, when the Instagram account was checked with "Area, in the meantime …", followed by over a hundred pictures of cool girls from the past 30 years. Think of Debi Mazar in the 1980s, early Noughties Rihanna, 90s Gwen Stefani and today’s Lily-Rose Depp, Bella Hadid, and Taylor Swift. Pictures of the 1980s Park Avenue Ladies appeared in her most high and jewel-colored premises alongside Iykyk types, such as singer-songwriter Okay Kaya, stylist Helena Tejedor, and artist Jamian Juliano-Villani and Julie Verhoeven, among many others.
Aburn’s Design Philosophy
Aburn knows one or two things about doing things in his own way. At Tom Ford, Aburn worked as a VIP designer for four years and created some of the customer-specific dresses that would carry celebrities on red carpets and premieres. "The head of women’s clothing saw what I did and said: ‘Do you want to do a few things for the collection?’ And I thought: ‘Of course I do,’" he recalls. And so he made himself "switching off" of his day job to create sketches for the main line until the early hours of the morning. He adds: "I really wanted it." Aburn’s design philosophy is centered around creating clothes that are fun, glamorous, and imaginative, with a touch of New York reality. He wants people to have a good time when they’re wearing his things.
