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April showers bring May flowers — along with a fresh assortment of floral purses for summer. The spring 2024 runway collections bloomed a number of new designer handbag trends, such as pastel purses, raffia basket bags, and oversized totes to name a few, but floral bags are an exception to the trend cycle, considered to be more of a timeless mainstay in the world of luxury accessories for the warm weather season. It’s simply natural to gravitate towards a fresh, flowery finishing touch for your summer ensembles that will last much, much longer than a beautiful bouquet.
The 2024 Met Gala’s “Garden of Time” red carpet theme and the release of the new season of Bridgerton on Netflix might have been catalysts for many of us to have buds on the brain this season, but the connection the average consumer has to floral bags runs deeper than perennial roots. Be it a core memory of your grandmother’s floral appliqué clutch or your recollection of early aughts ‘It’ bags dressed up with floral prints, our innate response to flowery luxuries will always be joyful. In fact, studies have shown that flowers have an impact on our happiness and emotional well-being. While these purses might not be Mother Nature’s design, the mentality still applies.
Take, for example, the story behind Gucci’s signature Flora print, which was originally designed on a silk scarf by illustrator Vottorio Accornero after Grace Kelly shopped at the brand’s Milan boutique in the 1960s. Rodolfo Gucci, son of Guccio Gucci and owner of the store, wanted to give the Princess of Monaco a gift that showed his gratitude, one that would last longer than a traditional bouquet of flowers. The result was a flora- and fauna-print that would become synonymous with the Italian fashion label, featuring several types of colorful flowers — tulips, lilies, daffodils, poppies, tulips, and more — and insect life. Shortly after the end of Tom Ford’s tenure of overtly sexy designs in 2004, then accessories designer Frida Giannini would bring back the iconic blooms out of the archives, applying the Flora print to the Gucci Jackie Hobo bag and a number of other accessories, which would establish a fresh, new era for the storied fashion house, and ultimately land Giannini the top role of creative director for the entire Gucci brand. Sex sells, but floral, feminine luxury goods do, too.
