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.