This Gianfranco Ferré dress was owned by Leonie Koenitz, who was one of the first fashion models trained in Singapore at Joan Booty and Ruth Warner's Mannequin Training and Charm School, which opened in 1956. Gianfranco Ferré was an Italian fashion designer. He founded his label in 1978 focusing originally on womenswear before branching out to menswear and other diffusion labels. Ferré was also the stylistic director of Christian Dior between 1989 and 1996, during which he designed the celebrated Lady Dior handbag (1994) named in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales. This dress features a white oversized collar also known as a puritan collar, a style which was also popular in 1930s. The more modern, boxier cut of this dress is representative of the silhouettes of the 1980s, and also reflects Ferré's attitude towards more structured, almost geometrical, tailoring.