This was published 5 months ago
The Met Gala trend making its way into our wardrobes this season
By Melissa Singer
Gigi Hadid’s Met Gala gown might not have made every person’s best-dressed list, but the white, off-shoulder Thom Browne design certainly put a stake – or thorn – in fashion’s fertile ground: roses are back.
Rebecca Vallance “Rhosen” dress, $729. Alias Mae “Isabel” shoes, $230. Pearl necklace (worn throughout), $2595, from Greene & Greene Antiques. Levante pantyhose (worn throughout), $38, from David Jones.Credit: Jesse-Leigh Elford
Romantic, seductive, sensual and emblematic of the fragility of time (cue that famous bell jar in Beauty and the Beast), roses convey many emotions. But just as roses have thorns, their place in fashion this summer is taking on a tougher edge. Think fewer “pretty” florals (but if that’s your bouquet, go forth) and more bold takes on the “queen of flowers”.
Among the international houses championing the blooms are Magda Butrym (the rose has been the Polish designer’s signature since day dot) and Balmain, whose rose-strewn dresses Margot Robbie wore on the Barbie press tour, including a candy-pink number with black polka dots and the blood-red gown she wore to the Critics’ Choice Awards.
The international run on roses has clearly influenced Australian fashion brands such as Rebecca Vallance and Leo Lin, with the latter’s upcoming range featuring dresses with 3-D silk roses dotted along the neckline. And, for those who prefer their roses by the stem, not the bunch, there’s a single bloom on a leather tie that can be worn around the neck, waist or even snaking up a stockinged calf.
“In the East, roses symbolise prosperity and joy, while in the West they epitomise romance and beauty,” Lin says. “To me, roses are more than a flower, they are a statement. They exude drama, elegance, strength. There is no flower that evokes femininity to me more than the rose.”
On the runways at Australian Fashion Week, roses weren’t quite sprouting but they were certainly suggested. New Zealand designer and runway debutante Rory William Docherty’s “crushes”, inspired by bits of scrunched paper, almost passed for roses, leaving Alix Higgins to take a more semantic route, through his “tulips, roses” slogan jumpers. Although the flower wasn’t present in its physical form, Higgins, in his third fashion-week show, proved through clever typography that even the imagining of a rose can make you smile.
L’Idée “Triumph” gown, $499. Senso “Karli” shoes, $249.Credit: Jesse-Leigh Elford
Camilla and Marc “Kamrynn” coat, $950. Same Los Angeles bandeau top, $250. Courtney Zheng “Anke” skirt, $195. Alias Mae “Isla” shoes, $250.Credit: Jesse-Leigh Elford
“Regenerate” top, $255. Harris Tapper “Newton” skirt, $587. Alias Mae “Isla” shoes, $250Credit: Jesse-Leigh Elford
Magda Butrym dress, $1365, from The Outnet. Senso “Ottilie” shoes, $249.Credit: Jesse-Leigh Elford
Fashion editor, Penny McCarthy; Hair, Brad Mullins using Oribe; Make-up, Filomena Natoli; Fashion assistant, La La Ryan; Model, Emma at Kult 16.
STOCKISTS Aje ; Alias Mae; Camilla and Marc; Courtney Zheng; David Jones; Greene & Greene Antiques; Harris Tapper; L’Idée; Rebeca Vallance; Same Los Angeles; Senso; The Outnet.
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