At today’s first presentation in Paris, Veronica Leoni said that “Quira is still surfing the waves of the LVMH 2023 Prize,” where she was one of the finalists. The boost the label has received both in media exposure and commercial viability has been crucial, and Leoni is enjoying the attention.
She is an experienced designer with a string of prestigious consultancies under her belt; her style is confident, with a rigorous consistency that for spring she wanted to loosen up, in favor of more instinct and ease. Her forte is the tailored construction of outerwear: here that was kept lighter, unlined and malleable. While not particularly keen on a body-revealing approach, Leoni tried her hand at the feel for sensuality suggestive of summer. White cotton voile, sheer organza, velvet and silk satin replaced the thicker holding-up-volume fabrics she usually favors. Airy textures gave shape to fluid, ruffled-back column dresses with drawstring closures, layered one on top of the other; draped sarongs worn with tucked-in masculine shirts, mineral-dyed in transparent tones of rosewater and lilac, had both delicacy and edge. They were one of the collection’s standouts, together with a long, elegant red velvet ’40s frock with a contrasting white adjustable panel at the back that could be let loose and floating like a train or tighten up to emphasize the waist.
Sensuality and rigor came together in a black tailored overcoat, with half-moon-shaped, raw-edged cut-outs at the breasts, exposing a glimpse of the lining and the skin underneath. “It’s a take on anatomy that I find interesting to explore,” said Leoni, who seems to be after a fluid, more feminine and free-spirited attitude. It could be an interesting direction to evolve into, to give Quira more range.