Flowers bloom in designers' spring shoes

April 23, 1:26 PMBaltimore Flowers ExaminerCarole Langrall

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Spring fashion 2009 has been touted as the "season of flowers" by style-watchers world wide and they aren't kidding. Flower motifs are in full bloom in clothes, hair styles, even in shoes. From sandals to pumps, it seems that footwear is the latest way to pay homage to Mother Nature.

After seeing some amazing floral interpretations of shoes and boots at the Philadelphia Flower Show in March, I realized what a suitable combination flowers and footwear could be. Last season Prada came out with floral Art Nouveau inspired high heels. While seemingly impractical to the average shoe-buyer, they were heavily advertised making their image hard to forget. And who can resist the beauty of flowers from the Art Nouveau period?

Flowers dominated the cat-walk at the 2009 Paris Fashion Week, including some over-the-top attractions. Bruno Frisoni, creative director for Roger Vivier, debuted an outrageous pair of hand-made fabric flower covered wedges. Coined as the “One Is Too” spring couture line, his shoes live up to this play-on-words. His designs may seem more fancy than functional, but he is serious about his craft. The mark of Frisoni’s mentor, Roger Vivier, is evident in these shoes-as-art, and the addition of Mother Nature’s bounty only makes them more attractive.

Another designer label who got inspiration from the garden was Scherer-Gonzalez. Their spring 2009 shoe collection was focused solely on fresh flowers. Talk about ready-to-wear! The interesting thing about these designer shoes is they were rather unexpected in structure—somewhat akin to floral designs-atop-lucite-stripper-heels. Regardless of your first impression, they make a statement…and likely will inspire women to “pimp up” their feet.

Not all shoes this season are so heavily decorated like those in the Paris show. There are many pairs available in stores across America that keep the floral theme alive in a more discreet fashion. I suppose there is something for everyone, but I have to go with the couture designer’s philosophy—if you’re going to take from the garden, make sure it’s enough for an arrangement. Shoes and flowers--a good fit if you ask me.