Rose Supreme - The iconic bloom endures in accessories trends

Living up to their title, roses secured their standing as the queen of flowers during the recent Women’s Runway season. Provocative, over the top, almost surrealist applications were seen across footwear, accessories, and jewelry, redefining how florals may break the mold and manifest in unexpected and alluring ways for Spring, into Fall Winter 24/25 and beyond.

Transcending their botanical identities, roses recall their deep resonance in our culture, representing intoxicating beauty, mystery and a bit of darkness with those sharp thorns. Symbols like flowers that remain steadfast in their ability to grow and thrive, even in harsh conditions, feel especially poignant given our current state of global upheaval. Recent rollbacks to worldwide women’s and girls' rights have fueled a heightened climate of gender injustice. In response, high-profile awareness raising protests and campaigns like the #The WomenLifeFreedom movement and global allyship have emerged in defense of rights to bodily autonomy for all people. These values-driven societal shifts have reignited important conversations around issues specific to women and the feminine experience.

The evocative leitmotif emerged during SS24 NYFW with Alejandro Gómez Palomo’s collection for Palomo Spain, giving form to prevailing gender-inclusive sentiments that are deeply resonating with the cultural zeitgeist. Created in collaboration with Spanish brand Bimba y Lola, bags were shaped into outsized leather roses. Jewelry was ornate and severely surrealist, seen in metallic blooms that adorned ears and were looped into chokers. Following suit, Sandy Liang continued her play on girlish dress codes with rosettes crafted in silk and slung on satin belts. The aptly named designer, Rosie Assoulin, has long embraced roses as a recurring theme. Here, delicate red petals topped her flat-soled Mary Janes and embellished vibrantly-hued looks with flower pins. Bronx and Banco demonstrated their artistic prowess by creating vermilion blooms in the form of dangling ear cuffs.

In London, David Koma brought his subversive edge to the garden variety. The blooms were encrusted with rhinestones, taking shape on collar gracing necklaces and arm cuffs. Bold proportion plays were spotted on blown up prints on knee high boots, and thorns were also enlarged, severed from their stems and transformed into handheld clutches in metallic finishes.

Wrapping the season at PFW, Balmain showed vermillion flora layered on caged hourglass heels. Lifelike bouquets tumbled out of leather satchels and acetate roses and metal thorns rimmed red-lensed eyewear, reimagining a vision through rose-colored glasses. Rose stems are often thrown during the final curtain of a moving performance as a gesture of appreciation, and it seemed fitting that the blooms were also a thematic thread that ran through Sarah Burton’s final collection for Alexander McQueen. Renditions of English roses were seen on oversized singular earrings, while silver toned rings wrapped around the model’s fingers. The duality-evoking flower might have also been interpreted as a symbolic farewell, as Burton’s departure meant there would no longer be a leading woman at the creative helm of any of the Kering brands, a fact that exploded across social media upon the announcement of her successor, Seán McGirr.

As the focal point of girl culture shifts to what it means to be a woman in the world today, the evolution of sweetened, pastel-colored coquette aesthetics, layered with lace, pearls, and bows, (which may have reached social media overload) matures into what might be viewed as a pivotal moment of change. It is no wonder that roses align with deep sensual reds that are full of vitality and emotionally-driven. Consumers are guided through feelings of uncertainty, searching for an enticing sense of optimism in the Fall and Winter months. Reds fulfill that feeling of desire, evoking awe, and capturing our growing engagement with experiential design. With the FW 24/25 Women’s runway season just around the corner, the attraction to this potently-hued emblematic flower, with its undeterred passion, will be blooming bolder than ever.