Whore-ticulture: five times fashion sexed up flowers

Earlier this year, Jonathan Anderson enlisted horticulturist Paula Ulargui Escalona to collaborate on his SS23 menswear collection for Loewe. As part of an offering inspired by the future of tech, its relationship with the natural world, carpets of grass spread across oversized car coats and sprouted from the toes of chunky trainers. This particular look, however, feels a little more Julia Fox – if you close your eyes, can’t you just imagine imagine Josh Safdie’s muse storming the New York sidewalk in J Dubs’ skimpy little grass skirt sans the jeans? Don’t answer: of course you can.

It doesn't take Mastermind-levels of fashion knowledge to know that Alexander McQueen was all about the theatrics – each and every show was a story. For SS07, the designer channelled Edwardian aristocracy, sending a sombre collection of austere corsets and restrictive floor-length skirts out onto the runway. Towards the end of the show, however, blooming flora exploded from the seams of the looks, before they finally enveloped the last few models, who served up a plate of botanic but gothic chic. 

Back in 2019, Virgil Abloh presented his third collection for Louis Vuitton, and by that point a number of his sartorial cornerstones had been established. Among them was the body harness: a chest-rig style piece often spotted on the dancefloors of Berghain and Adonis, and beloved by gay men. For SS20, the designer got a little green-fingered with them, as he covered them with delicate, blooming flowers. With the likes of Dev Hynes, Evan Mock, and Hector Bellerin slipping into them on the runway, Abloh's floral numbers also infiltrated the red carpet: though Timothée Chalamet claimed he thought the sexy harness was actually a bib. Ok hun x

Like, why wear a bouquet when you can be the bouquet? At his AW10 Dior Haute Couture show, Galliano took his audience on a trip into Christian’s rose garden, with models emerging from the preened flower beds dripping in roses, tulips, carnations, and chrysanthemums. Perhaps best of all, though, were the brilliant headpieces by Stephen Jones, who wrapped the kind of cellophane florists used around their heads with twine – something we’re sure DIY queen Julia would v much approve of.