Francesca Liberatore’s Spring/Summer 2015 collection offered a breath of fresh air as it came down the runway. Her fantastical collection enchanted viewers with its focus on understated, refreshing bird prints that were inspired by Asian design.

It seemed, indeed, that many of Liberatore’s pieces took flight as they came out. Her collection featured sheer-backed blouses with effortless volume as well as flowing silk bird prints that combined with long, clean graphic button-downs. For those who tire of the harem pants trend, Liberatore showed silk, loose-fitting pants with patterns of birds that rippled with movement remained neat and orderly.

Liberatore also took an original spin on the purse, fusing oversized square handbags with the idea of carrying it like a backpack to create a chic, easy-to-carry handbag that became an accessory from behind.

The attention to detail in this collection was stunning as smaller quirky details such as ruffles resembled the edge of a bearded iris flower running down a men’s suit. These did not overpower the looks but merely enhanced them. Other smaller details include gladiator-like straps along the backs of pants, chunky gold-detailed belt buckles and, on one male model in particular, two pockets that resembled purses on the sides of his pants.

As far as footwear was concerned, many female models wore strappy colored sandals, and the male models were void of real footwear at all. Instead of footwear, the male models donned funky painted toenails to match their brightly painted yellow, orange and black feet.

Most of the palette in this collection featured lighter, brighter colors, such as pinks or whites. The models wore their hair in messy topknots that added to the Asian gladiator fantasy effect. If one didn’t expect the words Asian, birds, fantasy and gladiator to go into the same fashionable look, Liberatore proved that those elements can all fuse together gracefully.

Email Amanda Morris at [email protected].