PULSE Newsletter Issue 7

This week, we explore fashion's obsession with flowers — from AW26’s darker botanicals and Gucci’s iconic Flora motif to the rise of Bloomcore. 

The most talked-about story from the AW2026 womenswear collections wasn't a silhouette or a colour — it was nature. Dazed Digital ran with the headline "Touching grass was the biggest trend of AW26," and it stuck.

At Louis Vuitton, Nicolas Ghesquière staged his show against a moss-covered landscape and sent models down the runway in looks that mixed botanical textures with vinyl and oversized headwear — deliberate, off-kilter, and oddly beautiful.

Gucci went darker: florals rendered almost nocturnally, scattered across inky black fabric and layered with plush outerwear that felt like flowers growing in the dark. Miu Miu and Dior both reached for foliage, root systems, and living-earth references. Floral appliqués, rosette ribbons, oversized flower-pin details — arranged as if pinned rather than printed — appeared across multiple houses.

The shift marks a meaningful change in how high fashion uses flowers. Out goes the sweet ditsy print. In comes something moodier: tapestry-weight florals, antique wallpaper references, the kind of botanical intensity you'd find on a Victorian cabinet. Fashion is telling its clients to think about flowers differently — as something powerful and complex, not merely pretty.

Did you know one of the most famous floral designs in fashion was made as a gift for a princess?

In 1966, Rodolfo Gucci commissioned artist Vittorio Accornero to paint a design as a gift for Princess Grace of Monaco. The result — 37 distinct colours, depicting flowers, berries, butterflies, and insects across a silk canvas — became the Flora motif: one of the most recognised floral designs in fashion history.

This summer, Gucci is marking the motif's 60th birthday with a full takeover of La Rose des Vents beach club in Monte Carlo's Larvotto neighbourhood, running through October. Flora blooms across loungers, cushions, and parasols; an arched corridor draped in multi-hued flowers leads to the waterfront restaurant; the Gucci logo is embroidered in red on swimming towels and linen napkins. A capsule collection of ready-to-wear and accessories in striking shades of red is available exclusively at the Monte Carlo boutique and on gucci.com.

"Bloomcore" — the interior design trend evolving out of Cottagecore — has moved from TikTok mood boards into genuine purchasing behaviour, and it's worth paying attention to. Where Cottagecore was darker and more rustic, Bloomcore is fresher, brighter, and centred specifically on flowers: floral wallpapers, botanical prints, bud vases grouped on every worktop, and the increasing use of professional florists to design permanent or recurring installations in the home.

The more significant commercial development sits at the luxury end. Interior designers and high-end property developers are now specifying floral installations — moss walls, fresh flower columns, preserved botanical features — as permanent architectural elements rather than seasonal decoration. Hotels, office lobbies, and residential projects are all commissioning florists in the same way they'd commission a sculptor or an upholsterer: as part of the design brief, not as an afterthought.

For florists, this represents a genuine expansion of what the job can look like. A client who used to buy a weekly bouquet now wants to talk about what flowers could do for their hallway, their dining room, their terrace. The conversation about what flowers are for is opening up.

The florist who saved the wedding (and nobody knew)

When a summer storm rolled over Lake George, New York in June, guests at Hannah and William Quillen's outdoor wedding barely had time to reach for an umbrella. Wind and rain arrived without warning, and one of the tallest floral installations — built and dressed that morning — snapped under the pressure.

Florist Lexee Goertzen had two options: try to repair it, or hold it together. She chose the latter. While guests watched the wedding party walk down the aisle, Lexee slipped around the back of the arrangement, lay flat on the ground out of sight, and held the structure in place for the entire ceremony. In the rain. For nearly half an hour.

The bride had no idea. Hannah only found out later that evening when a video — filmed by the wedding planner — turned up on social media. It has since been watched over 4.5 million times.

Lexee's own take on it? "I think anyone who creates art would protect it. Which is how I felt about these flowers."

We think about that quote a lot. It's exactly what florists do, even when — especially when — no one is watching.

27 September 2026 – National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs National Final — Floral Art

3 October 2026 – BFA Industry Awards Ceremony & Gala Dinner, Nottingham (FleurEx 2026)

October 2026 – FleurEx 2026 BFA's flagship event for retail florists and students

Touching grass was the biggest trend of AW26 Womenswear — Dazed Digital (https://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/69898/1/nature-trend-london-paris-fashion-week-aw26-miu-miu-louis-vuitton-dior)

Sculptured floral wedding designs (https://www.thelanecreativeagency.com/weddings)

Gucci Brings Its Iconic Flora Motif Back to Monaco (https://travellingforbusiness.co.uk/luxury-travel/gucci-brings-its-iconic-flora-motif-back-to-monaco-with-la-rose-des-vents-takeover/)

Gucci celebrates Flora at 60 — Luxury Daily (https://www.luxurydaily.com/gucci-celebrates-flora-at-60)

Bloomcore Interior Design Ideas 2026 — Checkatrade (https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/ideas/bloomcore-interior-design-ideas/)

Storm breaks flower installation — florist lies in rain — AOL (https://www.aol.com/articles/storm-breaks-flower-installation-bride-205900000.html)