Antwerp-based Austrian designer Florentina Leitner channeled her compatriot Marie Antoinette with her typically playful style. “She, like me, came from Austria to Paris,” she said backstage before the show. “I've always liked Sofia Coppola's film about her and that whole aesthetic.”
Their sugary silhouettes were overloaded for 21street Queens of the century in a collection like fairground cotton candy for girls who want to dress up but don't take themselves too seriously. Her baroque references rubbed shoulders with sweatshirt-style dresses printed with poodle motifs, and the pink ribbons that fluttered throughout much of the collection adorned her fur in 3D.
A sheer pink corset was paired over a fitted black coat, while poplin shirts and dresses with ruffled shoulders were worn, for example, with fun tricorn hats. Floral appliqués largely appeared as embellishments, either quilted and sculpted or laser cut and riveted. Faux fur in a murky lilac shade was another accent that screamed opulence with a whimsical touch. Sheer jacquard socks highlighted the quirky feel, worn with a hybrid between a sneaker and a jeweled sneaker created in collaboration with Arc'teryx.
She made full, mid-length skirts in several ways, such as in a sequined animal-print suit in lime green and white, and the jacket with a deep scoop neckline that echoed period dresses. A scarf-hem knit dress was printed with jewelery motifs in one of the most contemporary silhouettes, and the designer incorporated denim into the line for the first time, working it as boxy jeans with a giant bow on a back pocket, for example.
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