5 Minutes With Aera

By Ryan Patrick

Ahead of their second show, we look back on Aera’s first ever solo show, ‘Kismet’ on Thursday the 28th of November and I was there to cover it. Aera started as a collective in 2019 but it wasn’t until now that Nana Doan branched out into her own solo show. The show featured 13 garments designed by Nana, and I got to sit down with Nana to discuss the show, her influences, and her plans for the future.

Area was started in 2019 as a collective during Nana’s first year at Whitcliffe, graduating in 2022, as a collective putting on shows and pushing boundaries. Nana, Kiwi-Vietnamese, is a self described art and theatre kid, loved the community and collaborative nature of the arts and wanted to bring that into her fashion shows.

The young designer views Aera as more than clothing, it’s a community of working creatives trying to push art forward, and she really emphasises the contributions of her collaborators, project manager and jewellery designer Chloe Jayne, make up and hair stylists Jenny and Weiting from Ares Artisty, with assistance from Khoi Xu, clothes stylist Levi Tan, and photography and videography team, Quinn Aitkenhead, Jake Cattaway, Josefa, and Willow, violinist Hina, preshow band Jude Kelly, and set designer Bonnie.

For Nana, she loves to focus on local materials and deadstock, and is very hands on, feeling the fabric and really letting it dictate the designs with the drape of the fabric. But the pieces are always evolving, just because it’s left the studio, it doesn’t mean the piece is finished.

The pieces themselves show clear influence, self admitted by Nana, from Alexander McQueen, Maison Margiela and Vivienne Westwood, synthesized into a dark, glamorous aesthetic. The show was imbued with a theatrical flair, reflecting Nana’s background, and centered on the themes of family and personal narrative. Models slowly gathered in time to the violin, around a beautifully arranged table in the center of the runway before the main “Kismet”, and departed one by one.

For those looking to acquire Aera pieces, designs will be released in limited quantities on the label’s website, http://www.aerathelabel.com, each handcrafted by Nana. The exclusivity of these pieces ensures their desirability and uniqueness.

Looking ahead, Nana plans to let Aera’s path unfold organically. While the details of the next show are under wraps, she is dropping hints on Instagram, @aerathelabel.