top: Stella McCartney resort 2012// Georgia O’Keefe “Apple Blossoms”
bottom: Givenchy resort 2012// Georgia O’Keefe “Red Cannas”
Floral motifs have deep roots on the runways and with designers such as Mary Katrantzou leading the “rose parade,” it’s a theme that will continue to blossom for seasons to come. Despite the unyielding presence of florals, there are only so many ways a woman can wear flowers—on a blouse, skirt, or dress. With those limited options, florals tend to express a hyper-femininity that some women try to avoid and for many women, it is simply not representative of their aesthetic. For the women not looking to dress like the grown-up versions of their 5 year-old selves, Stella McCartney and Riccardo Tisci offered a more boyish alternative. For their 2012 resort collections McCartney and Tisci both showed oversized flowery t-shirts with flowers à la Georgia O’Keeffe. The designers must have been sipping from the same orange-blossom tea.
The baggy tee/ floral pattern fusion amalgamates femininity and masculinity in a manner that that breaks the assumption that flowers are just for girls (well, Riccardo Tisci already negated that statement).
The similarities between the prints on McCartney’s and Tisci’s shirts to O’Keeffe’s illustrious botanical renderings are striking— they resemble the artworks uncannily from type of flower to color scheme. Whether a subconscious or concerted effort to reference O’Keeffe, they both undoubtedly evoked the spirit of the late modern artist.
Ready-to-wear or couture pieces alluding to art pieces is a perpetual, natural occurrence in the fashionscape. Drawing such comparisons further reinforces how art has fueled, and continues to fuel, fashion.
