Inspired by The Sound of Music and the landscapes of the Austrian Alps, Florentina Leitner transforms childhood references, traditional dress, and summer memories into a playful contemporary wardrobe.
For Spring/Summer 2027, Florentina Leitner looks homeward. Titled Raindrops on Roses, the collection draws on the designer’s Austrian heritage and the renewed sense of belonging that emerged after experiencing it from a distance. The starting point was an unexpected encounter with The Sound of Music while Leitner was living in Antwerp, following a Christmas trip to Japan. Watching the film for the first time at 29, she found herself reconnecting with the landscapes, clothing, and romantic imagery of her home country.
Rather than treating Austria as a costume or a fixed national identity, Leitner approaches it as a personal archive of memories: summer afternoons by the lake, hikes through the mountains, familiar faces, and the small details that become more precious when experienced from afar. The collection takes its name from the familiar lyric in “My Favorite Things,” using nostalgia as a point of departure for a wardrobe that feels both personal and playfully reimagined.
Traditional Austrian garments inform the silhouettes. Lederhosen are reinterpreted in denim, while Dirndl blouses become contemporary tops finished with bow buttons. Three-dimensional bows and floral motifs appear throughout, balancing the charm of souvenirs with the intimacy of remembered details. The children’s wardrobe in The Sound of Music provides another reference, translated into sailor collars and uniform-inspired shapes with a preppy, youthful attitude.
Gingham emerges as a defining motif, recalling picnic cloths, summer tables, and traditional dress. Blue, black, and pink checks sit alongside denim, silk satin, and organza, creating a dialogue between familiar references and contemporary styling. The result is a collection shaped by contrasts: heritage and reinvention, innocence and sensuality, memory and the present.
Material innovation also enters the narrative. Leitner incorporates denim and pink satin developed by textile recycling company Circ, bringing alternative materials into the collection without separating them from its visual language. Lingerie brand Marie Jo returns as a partner, with floral and lace pieces styled beneath tops and Dirndl-inspired blouses. Its signature daisy motif and gingham effects reinforce the collection’s interplay of pattern, intimacy, and nostalgia.
Footwear completes the story through a second collaboration with Heinrich Berkemann. The partnership introduces sandals decorated with eyelet flowers and heart motifs, extending the collection’s romantic details to the final look.
Photographed in the Austrian Alps, the campaign returns the clothing to the landscape that inspired it. Open windows, clothes drying in the summer sun, days spent outdoors, and the journey home from the lake form the atmosphere behind the collection. It is less an idealized portrait of Austria than a reflection on how distance can change the way a place is seen—and how ordinary moments can become extraordinary through memory.
With Raindrops on Roses, Florentina Leitner turns nostalgia into a contemporary fashion language, where personal history meets playful design and the feeling of home becomes something that can be carried, reinterpreted, and worn.
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