This season the catwalks are blossoming with florals, from bright prints to exotic hues. But forget half-hearted arrangements and think big and bold with your blooms, advises our Fashionista
The Brits are well known for their love of animals and plants. It’s the latter that I’m concerned with in this column. It is a documented fact that our heir to the throne, dear Prince Charles, spends much of his free time talking to plants. Switch on your plasma screen and you will find any number of gardening shows telling you how to keep your buds in brilliant shape.
Our very own Stella McCartney, she with the curves more dangerous than Amalfi’s coastal roads, has recently been opining on the virtues of gardening. But I just don’t see the fascination with ruining one’s Bastien Gonzalez manicure by getting down and dirty in the mulch. In fact the only mud I want anywhere near my skin must come from a thermal bath somewhere in Tuscany.
Flowers, on the other hand, are a different matter. I love them. Worship them. With this in mind, I’m delighted to tell you that this season we’re all going to be blossoming. Yes, in the greenhouses of fashion designers everywhere they’ve all been hot-housing the same trend: floral.
What’s new about florals, you may ask? We’ve seen it all before, I hear you say. You’ve walked round that garden a fair few times and are well and truly over all things flowery. But this time it’s different. If you want to look fresh as a daisy in the springtime of 2008, you will eschew the darling, delicate buds of the past and nurture some bold, energetic flower prints. Fullblown blooms are flourishing on Stella’s signature all-in-ones and are also to be found growing all over Balenciaga’s capsleeved mini-dresses. The single flowers on Missoni’s smock dresses are just the right side of retro. Gucci’s graphic buds are reminiscent of Japanese prints and both of Miuccia’s lines, Prada and Miu Miu, feature pretty flowers that look like they were hand-painted directly onto the fabric.
My own personal favourite pieces are from the aforementioned Mrs Prada’s cruise collection. I'm channeling my inner prom queen in the netted, full, 1950s-style skirts of her oneshouldered floral dresses. As far as garden parties go, those frocks are where it’s at. Even the king of leopard print himself, Roberto Cavalli, has pledged his allegiance to flower power. His dreamy, diaphanous gowns decked out in romantic blooms surprised everyone used to his uber-glamorous animal prints.
They were exotic enough to look as though they’d sprouted straight out of the Garden of Eden. His fellow Italian designers, Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni and Moschino, have also got green fingers this season. I’m particularly enamoured with D&G’s fragrant, transparent, flower-printed shift dress worn with a petticoat to preserve one’s modesty. If the big bouquets are too much for you there is an alternative; do what actress Thandie Newton did and head straight for Luella. Her strapless black dress is covered with creeping flowers. It’s supremely pretty without any overthe-top foliage It’s also worth raiding relatives’ wardrobes for vintage floral prints. Perhaps the most desirable are those that Celia Birtwell created with her then husband Ossie Clark. Look out for beautiful, bright, blood-red poppies printed on the most delicate chiffons and crepe de chine. These pieces will have the most restrained fashionistas chasing you down the street with their secaturs in the hope of a little sartorial pruning. Nurture your inner flower child this season and everything’s guaranteed to come up rosy.
ZOE MANZI is a London-based editor and fashion writer