Aleksandr Vassiljevi Fond esitleb: ''Fashion in Bloom. Lillemotiivid moes''

 

Flowers and fashion have been closely connected for centuries. Floral designs have inspired dressmakers, embroiderers, and jewellers, especially during the 18th and 19th centuries in the Rococo, Neoclassical, Romantic, and Victorian periods. At that time, floral motifs were widely used in textiles and accessories such as handbags, umbrellas, shawls, and footwear.

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In the 19th century, the production of artificial flowers became popular, but achieving green tones often involved toxic arsenic-based dyes, which severely harmed workers’ health. After 1857, the invention of aniline dyes brought safer and more diverse colour options to fashion and textile production.

 

By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Art Nouveau movement introduced softer, pastel floral motifs inspired by nature, with flowers such as irises, chrysanthemums, and poppies becoming especially popular. In the 1920s and 1930s, during the Art Deco era, floral designs became more geometric and stylised, with roses, daisies, and calla lilies frequently used in fashion and accessories.

 

After the Second World War, romantic floral patterns returned, particularly roses and lily-of-the-valley. In the 1960s and 1970s, the hippie movement revived floral fashion, especially daisies as symbols of peace and youth. Later, in the 1980s, floral colours became bold and artificial, while the 1990s shifted towards minimalism and white aesthetics.

 

Throughout history, flowers have remained a constant source of inspiration in fashion, symbolising beauty, femininity, and the enduring connection between nature and design.