This March, Europeana Fashion is exploring the use of flowers through fashion history, curating Europeana Fashion Tumblr with a selection of pictures from its partners’ collections.

There are many designers in fashion that are recognized for their charachteristic use of flowers in their creations. The flowers these designers include in their creations are often associated with many meanings, drawn from history, popular culture and art. However, sometimes the game changes and some particular flowers becomes heralds of the designers’ styles and aesthetics.

Fashon Designs by Paul Poiret, 1908. illustrated by Paul Iribe. Les Robes de Paul Poiret, p.17. Source: Internet Archive. Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

The stylized rose which was featured in many of Paul Poiret pieces is one of the earliest examples of fashion’s signature flowers. It was designed by the illustrious fashion illustrator Paul Iribe and it became, for its unicity, an emblem of Poiret’s style.

The two most notable instances are however Christian Dior’s lily of the valley, the couturier’s favourite flower, and Coco Chanel’s camellias. Both the creators used to have their flowers pinned in their lapels or adorning their personal stationery and effects. They also used them in their collections. Dior dedicated to the lily of the valley his 1954 collection, while Coco Chanel used cammellias as a recurrent detail in his clothes, may it the be a pin, a button or an application.

Camellia shaped pin, part of Chanel Fall-Winter 1990-91 collection. Photo Museo del Traje, all rights reserved.

These flowers, a signature of the designers’ style, become therefore a code and an emblem that still defines these Houses aesthetics. Visit our Tumblr to find more examples of the designers’ use of flowers or browse Europeana Fashion’s collection!