Sensual Florals From the Bedroom to the Boardroom
Florals are the most chic way to celebrate the new season. Parisian designers paved the way with the most sensual floral appliqués and intensely vibrant prints imaginable. Florals are not generally groundbreaking, but a new found romanticism ran through the Spring/Summer 2014 collections, with designers incorporating Monet-like floral prints, roses, poppies and camellias on evening coats and sheaths covered in blooms.
Bui’s refined-urban style reflects her die-hard French roots. Her translucent rubber PVC coat is printed and engraved with luscious red flowers and is worn over high waisted jersey shorts and a matching bandeau with flat oxford shoes vented to resemble sandals.
Dries van Noten upcoming career retrospective at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris led him to create the “striking, and unusual ” flower prints that flamboyant artists like Oscar Wilde, Jean Cocteau and Jimi Hendrix have worn over the decades. The stunning parade of dark tulip damask prints included a vest with rich, opulent flowers over black silk pajama trousers embossed with a tiny flowers.
Among the most outstanding florals in Paris this season are Elie Saab’s lavish floral applique’s seen on a rosy pink dress with flared skirt and flowering rosettes strategically placed to hide all the naughty bits. Some of his filigreed dresses trimmed in grosgrain ribbon could easily be passed off as lingerie.
Christophe Lemaire took Hermès into jungle territory for spring with enormous peach lillies and exotic greenery reminscent of Henri Rousseaus’ jungle paintings on a chic tunic paired with a supple black leather skirt.
Then there are those perfect summer days where you want to add a bit of edginess to a girly outfit and Isabel Marant’s irreverent tomboy style comes to mind. Marant did just that with sweet faded painterly blossoms on a frilly chiffon dress tied loosely with a black leather belt and worn with the most amazing Parisian rocker booties with cone heels.
John Galliano’s, Bill Gaytten turned out a collection of sporty, tech-driven looks inspired by the street. His laser-cut, pale mint, silk dress stood out with detailed perforated 3-D flowers on a sexy floor length dress that hugged the body.
Rochas’ roses were much more elegant as they glistened on a silver brocade coat. After reading Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie, Marco Zanini set about creating a physical embodiment that would suggest “ the fragility of glass and crystal buoyed by the translucency of reflective organza to create a crystalline effect
Come summer, every girl will want to rock Stella McCartney. Her matching shirts with short, wide-cut sleeves are the preferred shape of the season paired with high-waisted pencil skirts. One of the best looks in the show was a red and white print daisy blouse with a red floral skirt.
At Giambattista Valli, a slim, fitting lavender sheath dress is embroidered with white and purple blooms.
Nina Ricci is as feminine as it gets and Peter Coppings modern iterations of menswear staples were stripped and turned on their head as he recreated jackets and shirts into fragile, whisper light fabrications in pale icy, spring shades. An array of beautifully colored florals is seen on a sweet pleated day dress using a pattern-blocking technique.
