Marie Antoinette Madness: Manolo Blahnik's Marie Antoinette Collection, Marie Antoinette for Ladurée, and Inside Marie Antoinette Style

Welcome to TGP Tidbits where we round up the happenings and our musings of the design industry each week. This week we take a look at Manolo Blahnik’s Marie Antoinette Collection, Marie Antoinette for Ladurée, and Inside Marie Antoinette Style. Written by Natalie Aldridge.

Manolo Blahnik’s Marie Antoinette Collection

If there were ever a designer destined to bring Versailles to our wardrobes, it would be Manolo Blahnik. The legendary shoemaker has unveiled a new capsule collection inspired by none other than the queen herself, Marie Antoinette, and the result is as decadent as a macaron tower at Ladurée.

This collection is more than a whimsical flirtation with history. Blahnik has long been enamored with the doomed queen, studying her portraits, interiors, and every ribboned shoe that once graced her gilded feet. Now, in honor of the V&A’s exhibition Marie Antoinette Style, he has distilled that romance into wearable works of art: heels wrapped in pastel silk, adorned with bows and corset lacing, pleated like pannier skirts, and embroidered with blossoms worthy of the Petit Trianon gardens.

The collection feels like a natural evolution, as Blahnik famously designed the unforgettable shoes for Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. Yet for all their rococo detailing, these are not costumes. Each silhouette has been refined with Blahnik’s masterful balance and scale, ensuring the shoes feel as relevant on today’s streets as they would under the chandeliers of Versailles. It is courtly grandeur reimagined for the modern woman, a marriage of fantasy and function that only Manolo could achieve.

Like Antoinette herself, the shoes invite both delight and drama. They ask us to revel in beauty, to indulge in the extraordinary, and to step, quite literally, into a story. And in a world that often favors the understated, Blahnik reminds us that there is still room for powder-puff pastels, satin bows, and a touch of royalty.

I, for one, am dying to get my hands on a pair. Talk about dream shoes! The collection can be found here.

Marie Antoinette for Ladurée

Speaking of a Ladurée macaron tower… As if we needed another reason to indulge in pastel confections, Ladurée has teamed up with the Victoria and Albert Museum in honor of the Marie Antoinette Style exhibition. Launching Launched this week on September 24th, this limited-edition macaron gift box pays homage to Marie Antoinette, the French queen who redefined fashion, elegance, and decadence in equal measure.

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Inspired by fabrics and other treasures in the V&A collection, the box itself is a work of art. Inside, Ladurée’s signature macarons are a confectionary nod to Versailles. Adding to the decadence, the exhibition features a spectacular full-scale reconstruction of the pièce montée from Sofia Coppola’s cult-classic film Marie Antoinette, ensuring that both sweets and style take center stage.

It’s a collaboration that feels as inevitable as it is irresistible. Confections for your table, and a celebration of the queen who continues to inspire beauty in every medium. And even if you do not have a sweet tooth, the box alone is worth collecting. This limited edition box is now available in the UK here.

Inside Marie Antoinette Style

Last weekend, I had the great pleasure of visiting the Marie Antoinette Style exhibition at the V&A, and it was nothing short of a Versailles daydream.

The exhibition, open through March 22nd, 2026, is the first of its kind, dedicated entirely to the queen who has left an indelible mark on culture, fashion, interiors, and beyond. From the moment you enter, you feel transported into Marie Antoinette’s world. Gowns of impossible silk, jewels that glitter, and even her own slippers are displayed with all the pomp of a royal fête.

There is much to marvel at: Beth Katleman’s enchanting porcelain installation, furniture from the Petit Trianon, a legendary pearl and diamond pendant that once sold for a staggering $36 million, handwritten letters that reveal the woman behind the legend, and much more.

What struck me most was how the exhibition captures not only Antoinette’s image but also the depth of her enduring influence. Dior, Chanel, and Vivienne Westwood stand alongside 18th-century gowns, proving that her style still reigns supreme centuries later. Wandering through the softly lit, perfumed galleries felt like drifting through the Petit Trianon itself, each artifact a whisper from another time.

And how fitting that this moment arrives alongside Manolo Blahnik’s ravishing capsule and Ladurée’s macaron tribute. Shoes, sweets, and an exhibition that bring it all to life. Marie Antoinette is having her moment once again, and we are here for it all!