Floral patterns dominated the runways at Paris Fashion Week, proving that this trend isn't going anywhere for the upcoming seasons. While flowers often evoke a girlie visual, designers showed that the size of the pattern, colors used and silhouette can give this pattern a power boost.
At Giambattista Valli, an air of modern romance was achieved with a spray of red flowers on a beautifully draped gown. Accessorized with a dark cinched belt, the look was kept from being overly sweet. Ulyana Sergeenko used a floral trim on the straps and bustline of a velvet frock to balance the flounce of the hemline. With exaggerated sleeves and a gauzy floor length skirt, Alexis Mabille used flowers to drive the romantic neo-Victorian feel of her couture collection. Sexy cutouts and sheer panels laced with floral appliques donned the gowns at Tony Yaacoub, who designs for a woman who wants all eyes on her. Maison Martin Margiela never fails to entertain, taking the quirky factor up a notch with full floral headdresses on many of his models. His pastel swing coats lined with large blooms were countered with brown knee-high boots, proposing that come Fall/Winter, we will all be yearning for sunny Spring days and floral motifs.
As with all Couture collections, these looks are meant to be a rarefied vision of the overall direction that fashion is taking. For everyday ensembles, don't be afraid to mix floral with other patterns for a fresh look (for example, a floral top and striped skirt). The general rule of thumb is to keep the size of the pattern varied- so if you use a wide stripe, keep the florals at micro-level. Also, it pays off to have a 'base color', which is a color that is found in both patterns.
