Leonard is known for their boundary-pushing exuberant celebration of freedom, where self-expression and seduction go hand in hand. As Leonard’s new creative director, Georg Lux is transporting women from every day to a glamorous world of beauty, refinement, and sensuality with its “Beyond Midnight” collection. As Georg Lux embarks on the next chapter of the historic French house, he brings a different perspective to the brand and its ethos.
Inspired by the 1976 Claude Chabrol film “Folies Bourgeoises,” the “Beyond Midnight” collection is a celebration of after-dark dressing. The clothing is designed to move with languid ease from a soiree ballroom to the boudoir. The evenings where people intertwine, lock eyes and sway to the rhythm of the night. The references are taken from both the Art Deco mise-enscène elements of the film and the era in which it was made. It is a collection with a view to a future where the currently suppressed desire for endless movable feasts will once again see the light of day when the world can finally fete its rebirth.
With the current pandemic, the collection is a view to a future where the currently suppressed desire for endless movable feasts will once again see the light of day when the world can finally fete its rebirth. The clothing is created to dance the night away and raise a glass to the dawning of a new age of splendor. “It’s really a collection that draws on the house’s character, the technical expertise, and beautiful materials, beyond silk jersey, which remains our trademark fabric — here we really sought to work with exceptional materials,” Lux said.
The collection includes a three-quarter-length leather coat with silver sleeves and covered with ostrich feathers, lined with a pastel Art Deco house print; a long, V-neck dress, as well as a blouse, made of a fuchsia leopard pattern delineated in velvet devoré; a pleated silk satin dress, its Art Deco print rendered in a 1970s palette of pink, gold and brown, and a silk moiré cape dress carrying a colorful broad-stroked, floral. This sumptuousness is perfectly expressed in the collection’s striking silver leather herringbone motif coat embellished with gray and white feathers and lined in this season’s geometric print. But also in a lurex and silk gown of devoured pink and gold leopard velvet and a taffeta cape in an abstract floral motif that is elevated by a handmade moire effect.
All of these seductive statement pieces were designed to honor the artisanal hands of French Maisons like Février, Lemarié, and the M.P.L. (Manufacture de Peausserie de Luxe) that Leonard turned to help bring Lux’s unique vision to life.
Leonard has also reintroduced the Leonard man into the brand’s narrative points to view another avenue of self-expression the house is exploring. One where Art Deco printed silk-satin pajama pieces looks right at home on whichever gender. The collection underlines a modern understanding of menswear that doesn’t conform to outdated masculinity concepts and offers men the option to stand out in their own right. Where gender codes of the past are démodé and the Leonard man of today is confident enough to proclaim his desire to be the center of attention.
