“After women, flowers are the most divine creations”, the great Christian Dior stated on more than one occasion. So much so that the name that this couture master had given to his debut collection that catapulted him to fame in 1947 was Corolle, referring to the second whorl of the full flowers. It was due to the splendor of this new silhouette, which meant the final goodbye to the scarcity of materials during World War II, that Carmel Snow, editor at the time of Harper's Bazaar in the United States, wrote: “It is almost a revelation, dear Christian. Your dresses are a true new look”, thus renaming these historic creations. Since then, flowers have been part of the women's wardrobe, both in the print and in the clothing cut, something that has also been echoed in recent years, in which nature is so fragile and necessary for us, the world of interior design.
In the parades that pointed out the trends for this summer, the floral print showed its most romantic side, both in the maxi or oversize proposals as well as in babydolls and transparencies. Added to this are swimwear and accessories, predicting a summer of pure delicacy. Petal by petal, the flowers of Mascaró's high-heeled sandals have been sewn and, using crochet and other artisan techniques, the applications of Hogan's bags and sneakers have been made, as well as the lingerie and bathroom line of Dolores Cortés. The Mibo espadrilles are also dressed in flowers and in shades like the yellow of the turmeric rhizome.
The color palette ranges from the most naive tones and combinations to the darkest and most elegant tones. The ankle-length skirts with matching tops in silk printed with spring flowers by Dior stand out, the maxi-dresses and wrap dresses in white with intrinsic floral branches in blue or in a combination of lilac and apricots by
Highly saturated tones have been more relegated this season in terms of floral textile printing. “The stridency has given way to that precious print that is the painting Ophelia, by the Pre-Raphaelite Dante Gabriel Rosetti, of whom a retrospective can be seen until September at the Tate Britain in London. The gardens flood the garments, but with subtlety. At most, and in our fashion week, perhaps the most iconoclastic on the circuit, we have been able to see some more baroque proposals and with sparkling applications, such as those of Simone Rocha”, explains Joy Clemens, Styling teacher at Central Saint School Martins of the British capital.
The English perfumer James Heeley had precisely a perfume called Ophelia until a few years ago and in all its essences we can smell that British countryside full of lilacs, primroses, jasmine and violets, without stridency and very innocent. This year, this nose has launched a new perfume based on lavender. “As an English boy, growing up this scent always made me think of the sunny Mediterranean in the south of France. In fact, lavender from Provence has seen sales on the rise to satisfy the insatiable need for the scent in both the UK and the US. I enjoy reworking traditional themes and ingredients. There are so many different ways to assemble!” he remarks. In this same line we find the Earth perfume by Loewe, with a base of violet, mimosa and ambergris together with notes of musk, truffle and pear.
Although in the field of fashion design flowers are shown in their most delicate nuance, in the field of decoration only Scandinavian and Swiss firms maintain this minimalist and more relaxed neatness, as we see in the vases by Hay and the outdoor furniture by Dedon, with ergonomics halfway between the ficus leaf and the wings of a butterfly. It is precisely the Italian-based firms that have most wanted to display the most exuberant splendor of the plant world. Missoni and especially Lisa Corti have launched collections with intense greens, almost mustard yellows, crimson... What's more, in the case of Milanese Corti, a true poetess of fabrics, we observe how the designs of her cushions, bedding, table linens and light rugs move completely away from neutrality and sobriety, giving off a unique style with chromatic fireworks that range from emerald green to crimson, fuchsia and mustard yellow, shades that in his clothing design line, with kaftans and dresses with flowing patterns, they stand as the counterpoint to the tender delicacy that predominates this season.
In the urban jungle trend that we have been seeing in home textiles for some years now, we also find the collections of La Redoute Interieurs and Henko Living. The Catalan Nanimarquina once again bets on XL flowers in its rugs, especially in the Mexican-inspired Oaxaca model. “Interior design, especially that designed for exteriors, allows for more daring shapes and more striking colours, since if they are placed near a swimming pool, on a lawn or under an awning in neutral tones, they integrate perfectly and result in harmonious ensembles and, at the same time, brimming with personality”, explains the interior designer Julieta Monzón, with her own office and a teacher in the university master's degree in gardening and landscaping at the Polytechnic University of Madrid.
This is how a good option are the Vegetal chairs by the French Bouroullec for Vitra, which we find in both green and lilac, pink or orange; the Flower Table that Alexander Girard designed in 1977 for the legendary Miller House in Columbus, Indiana; or furniture from Hay's Palissade collection, which ranges from green to brown and can always be paired with bold towel sets. Christian Dior also said it: "You can never go wrong if you take nature as an example."
