The 25 year old native Austrian Florentina Leitner is a master’s graduate from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and, after working as a womenswear designer at Dries van Noten in London at the end of 2020, set up her own label with the same name. Her fashion is cheerful, colorful and extroverted and a complex interplay between shapes and funny elements. The elegant cuts, unusual prints, funny accessories and the innovative use of materials have already impressed many stars. These include Kylie Jenner, Lady Gaga and Charli XCX, among others.
As a young, visionary label, Florentina Leitner attaches great importance to sustainability in her designs. She works a lot with fabrics from leftovers as well as responsibly produced textiles. These are mainly processed in Belgium, Italy and Great Britain. The label also acts sustainably in sales. Transport routes can be reduced through direct sales in the online shop. Leitner’s collections appear twice a year in limited numbers and are characterized by exclusivity and individuality.
Final collection “Midnight Vertigo”
Her Graduation collection at the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts was inspired by the film “Vertigo” by Alfred Hitchcock. The psychological thriller is about an ex police officer and a love tragedy. The policeman falls in love with a suicidal woman and cannot save her from death due to his high days. For example, the “spiral fake fur coat” by Leitner and the swirl pattern photographed on it symbolizes the fear of dizziness and fear of heights that the police officer feels.
Last year, Leitner won the womenswear category with their Vertigo graduation collection in ARTSTHREAD’s first online Global Design Graduate Show, whose fashion categories are sponsored by the industry-leading fashion house Gucci.
Florentina Leitner Collection “The Tournament”
Florentina Leitner’s Spring Summer 2020 collection was inspired by traditional fairy tales. The fairy tale Cinderella, for example, has a great influence on this collection and you can also see it in fairytale clothes. “The Tournament” is a fashion film from this collection directed by Marnik Boekaerts. The short film is about 4 women who fight for the hand of the knight and have to prove themselves in a series of tests.
Florentina Leitner A / W21 Collection “The Royal Leitners”
In February 2021, she presented hers at the digital New York Fashion Week Fall / Winter 2021 collection “The Royal Leitners”.
Florentina Leitner F/S 2022 “Vacation on the Moon”
Their new Spring / Summer 2022 Semi-Couture Collection “Vacation on the Moon” is inspired by a day at Mondsee in Austria that invites you to go on a sailing excursion. Leitner plays with traditional cuts and motifs from her home country Austria as well as with the idea of a vacation on the moon. It shows maritime outfits in combination with edelweiss prints and galactic metallic moon prints.
At the start of the MBFW Berlin, Mercedes-Benz is presenting the London label Florentina Leitner as part of the “Mercedes-Benz Fashion Talents” program. The live show on the catwalk in the Kraftwerk, Berlin-Mitte, will take place on September 6, 2021 at 9 p.m.
Author: Stephanie Scholz – Photos: PR / Florentina Leitner
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