Girls Fashion Lifestyle

Flowers and fashion have long gone hand in hand. From the floral patterns adorning Victorian front rooms, to the floral dresses and flowers to San Francisco, worn as a symbol of peace and love during of the 70s Flower Power era, we adore the sight of beautiful blooms.

Perhaps the central reason for this is that both flowers and fashion represent elegance. Both florists and fashion-designers are obsessed with color and form, and both professions are centered on creativity and imagination. Today our obsession with flowers has reached heights like never before, and we make them a part of almost every celebration.

Take flowers and fashion one step further than weddings and birthdays and you’ll find actual garments made from blossoms. Artists such as Vivienne Westwood and Giles Deacon have often featured flowers in their collections, but Colombian designers at the Bio Fashion Show use actual plants. Using leaves, twigs and flower heads to create their own beautiful garments, they make dresses entirely of sunflowers.

One of the most exciting artists around right now is Vancouver-based Nicole Dextras. Her Weedrobes Collection is a range of garments made from natural materials, and is hailed as ‘Environmental Art.’ By using sticks, buds and thorns, Nicole creates waistcoats, ball-gowns and jewellery. Even cabbage leaves are used to create beautiful shoes. The exhibit is supposed to confront the idea of disposable goods, and make a statement about the waste of living in an urban environment.

Of course, we can’t actually wear these garments; only admire them. For on-trend floral fashions that we’re actually able to buy, we have to turn to New York Spring Fashion Week 2012. It might go against the message of materialism in Nicole’s work, but none of us are perfect! The trend for flowers on the catwalk this season are bright, bold patterns and tropical blooms. Violet and lilac are the colours to look out for. Florists in the city are eager to provide the bouquets, but there’s no better celebrity florist than Oscar Mora. If you want to send flowers to New York, simply call upon Mora’s designs for inspiration. His floristry is described as the ‘perfect fusion of art and nature,’ so you could do worse than to follow this trend.

Mora has provided bouquets for Valentino and L’Wren Scott fashion shows, and designed arrangements for the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Madonna and Nicole Kidman. What’s all the fuss about? Well, you’ll have to look him up to find out.

From the catwalks of New York to art galleries in Vancouver, flowers and fashion will always go hand in hand.