Flower Power

I admit I was absolutely taken aback by the Oscar de la Renta fashion show in NY last week. This has nothing to do with the way Peter Copping showed his respect to Oscar de la Renta (the designer died in October 2014), drawing inspiration from the Hispanic Society of America in Harlem, where he viewed paintings and textiles that he knew de la Renta, would have loved. It wasn’t even the fact that there was a red carnation on every seat at the show, a flower thrown to the bullfighters at the ring.

It was the little carnation prints in the collection — in red and white — and the colors of ruby and black, green, saffron and seafoam which struck my heart. Suddenly I felt a desperate need read my old time favourite poets and get on a romantic cloud in the sky travelling distances I’ve never done before. Good bye punk’s-not-that stance, love is all around now.

It seems designers have been going through the exact same feelings and what I saw during NYFW was a reflection of the need for more romanticism, light and hope in our every day lives. Flowers do all that and now more than ever they seem so delicate and so pretty.

Intentionally or not, I found myself on one of those perfectly fresh autumn mornings, in a beautiful shop in Seefeld, and just like Clarissa from Michael Cunningham’s book “The Hours”, wanted to buy the flowers myself. Was it the film’s plot or the recollection of Oscar de la Renta’s personal story that made me do the shooting, I don’t know but you can see what I came up with here.

To that story just a piece of history: flowers weren’t always so popular in fashion. In fact floral prints are believed to have originated in the East. They travelled from the Orient and Asia with the first traders who sold them at very high prices in Europe. However in the West floral lace was used to decorate garments in the middle ages. Lace was born from the desire to elaborate the edges of plain fabrics, whether of linen or heavier material. People wanted to get away from the harsh simplicity of the times. Venetian laces and cut-work with elaborate floral forms were greatly accepted by ladies and gentlemen and over time were also used by the common people in the late 16th century.

Floral designs also made appearances in heavy ornate textiles from Persia during the Islamic Period (early 17th century). Cloth embellished with tulips alongside pomegranates and vines were a favourite in the 17th century with elaborate designs woven in velvet. These Persian floral fabrics were brought to Italy by the merchants from the Ottoman Empire.

All the pieces from this shooting will be available in our boutique in the next several days:

White lace skirt and pussy bow lace blouse LIDA NOBA

Earrings and bracelet SUSI PRINZ

COS socks

Vintage belt ETRO

Sandals French Connection