Photo book Flora Fashion & Sources of Inspiration in Fashion Design

We recently became aware of the newly published illustrated book “Flora Fashion” , in which renowned fashion and up-and-coming designers such as Elena Nazaroff, Aphia Sakyi or Louise Sommerlatte reinterpreted the world of botany with wonderful fashion illustrations.

The lightness and playful elegance of the floral illustrations captivated us immediately. Reason enough to dedicate a detailed article to this picture book.

At the same time, a question that has repeatedly arisen in the past came back to me: what sources of inspiration do fashion designers generally draw upon for their creations and collections?

The arduous search for the muse

As long as there's no time or performance pressure, the creative process can be a fun and enjoyable experience. But as soon as you have to churn out new ideas on an assembly line – as in the fashion world – and fashion critics are standing by with sharpened knives, ideas usually dry up quickly without a structured approach.

Have you ever wondered how top fashion designers manage to create collection after collection, like a well-oiled clock? It seems these exuberant individuals never run out of ideas.

Therefore, one of the secrets to success for every established designer is having a virtually inexhaustible repertoire of inspirational sources. This isn't due to some secret superpower, but rather to a structured and organized work process.

Inspiration in fashion design is the result of a lengthy, creative process. This process involves a significant amount of research and engagement with diverse things, information, and topics. It is primarily about acquiring and collecting ideas and suggestions, as well as organizing fragments of thought. Impressions thus become influences that later become visible in the designs.

In fact, the majority of the daily work of creative professionals , including designers of all kinds, is characterized by the pursuit of inspiration. The goal is to find it as needed, capture it, and then keep it alive for as long as possible.

Ambitious designers here place particularly high demands on their own ingenuity. Their next creative achievement should be a breakthrough, surprising, astonishing, provoking, and ideally a new trend . To achieve this, inspiration should be sought in unusual places. Even completely outlandish ideas and unconventional approaches should not be overlooked.

A look at 33 things that inspired celebrated designer stars at New York Fashion Week 2017 reveals some surprising insights. Learn more in the InStyle magazine article: 33 Things That Inspired Fashion Designers and Their Collections .

Where does the inspiration come from?

The muse doesn't often just knock on the door. As a delivery or deadline approaches, unease slowly but surely sets in. Where is the inspiration supposed to come from now?

Fortunately, there are some good sources that provide a reliable pool of ideas for designers of all kinds and styles. Including some rather unusual ones.

01 Museums, exhibitions and art galleries

If you don't want to leave the world of art and design, then a visit to a museum, an exhibition or a gallery will ignite true fireworks of inspiration from the muse.

These ancient sites of the art world are a wonderful source for primary research into fashion inspiration. For one thing, they house a wide variety of different types of artifacts, exhibits, objects, and historical treasures.

Secondly, numerous special exhibitions take place worldwide, showcasing inspiring works by fashion designers, artists, or architects.

Should you happen to live in one of these metropolises, or should travel costs be of minor importance, then the Sir John Soane's Museum in London, the Musée Christian Dior with Christian Dior Garden in Granville (France), the Museo Ferragamo in Florence (Italy) and the Museum of Modern Art in New York are highly recommended.

Of course, countless other museums, galleries, and exhibitions around the world are also suitable. A quick local Google search will help you find them.

02 Vintage Archive

The vintage scene is perfectly suited to be inspired by the fashion of earlier years and to learn more about the construction methods of historical clothing and accessories from past decades.

For some designers, there is nothing more satisfying than leafing through old books, magazines and journals and discovering something unique, something long thought to be forgotten.

Online searches and browsing the internet are generally considered overrated when specifically looking for vintage pieces. You're more likely to discover antique clothing and treasures lost over time by digging through old print media in large archives.

If you are looking for fashion from a particular decade from the very beginning, you will most likely find a disproportionately high number of items in the city archives of those metropolises where this fashion was booming at that time.

Vintage bookseller

Large booksellers with extensive vintage book selections were once reserved for only the most discerning and exclusive fashion houses. Since the rise of retailers like Idea Books (@idea.ltd) and November Books (@novemberbooks) on Instagram, we can all enjoy this luxury.

While the books aren't always copied verbatim, they still provide ample inspiration. Interestingly, the best designers don't buy fashion books, but rather books on great photography and general culture.

You can also find special books, illustrated books and rare editions at the German online bookseller Zweitausendeins

03 films

The film industry has always been closely linked to clothing and fashion. Numerous films have been style-defining in various ways and have set entirely new trends.

Using film as a starting point for research and inspiration is something designers have been doing for years. A whole host of runway trends were initiated by cult films or, as if by a catalyst, truly set in motion. As a designer, one shouldn't close oneself off to the multimedia, visually stimulating, and immersive world of film and television.

The following three masterpieces of cinematic art deserve explicit mention here:

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Audrey Hepburn's wardrobe , designed by costume designer Edith Head, was the stuff dreams were made of.

Her iconic black dress was designed by Givenchy, and the remaining items were either manufactured by the studio itself or acquired directly from renowned designers working in the 1950s.

Nicolas Ghesquiere 's autumn 2008 collection for Balenciaga seemed to have been inspired by the "little black dress" of this film.

Moulin Rouge (2001)

With costumes by Catherine Martin , who was also responsible for the costumes of "Strictly Ballroom" and "Romeo and Juliet", this musical film by Baz Luhrmann has helped to generate enormous interest in burlesque and corsetry trends.

Beyond the catwalks at shows by YSL and Balenciaga , this fashion could once again be seen on the streets and alleys of the world.

Fun fact on the side: The costumes were not entirely historically accurate, but were based on more contemporary corsetry from Agent Provocateur.

Marie Antoinette (2006)

Sofia Coppola's historical drama was "scandal" Agnes Poirier , film critic for "Libération" . "The story feels like nothing more than a framework for lavish decor, and the opulent Palace of Versailles becomes a boutique hotel for the jet set – yesterday as well as today," the critic continued.

The film is lavishly produced and extraordinarily rich in patterns, textiles, and colors. It delights the taste buds of any fashion designer and transports the viewer to another world – full of splendor, pomp, and abundance.

The costumes were designed by Milena Canonero , and the ironic glam-pop soundtrack from the eighties is by Sean O'Hagen.

More style-defining film gems for fashionistas:

• A Sweet Face (1957)
• Blondes Prefer Blondes (1953)
• The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
• The Phantom Thread (2017)
• The September Issue (2009)
• Dior and I (2014)
• Valentino: The Last Emperor (2008)
• A Single Man (2009)
• The Crown – The Series (2016)
• Girlboss – The Series (2017)
• Gossip Girl – The Series (2007)
• The House of Eliott – The Series (1991-1994)

04 On the street

Groundbreaking fashion often arises from bold improvisation or a lack of resources, coupled with ingenuity.

It's hard to say who first decided to combine different garments, the designer or the customer. Jeans and lace, fur and bold colors, heavy boots and summer dresses – all these combinations emerged over time and through experimentation.

Or let's look at the modern fascination with rags and ripped clothing. Used look , destroyed look – where do these trends come from? Perhaps from a designer's weariness with the pursuit of perfection, shine, and glamour. Or from a lack of ideas, resources, and alternatives. It doesn't really matter, because the result has far exceeded all expectations.

05 Markets

Most fashion designers visit a flea market at least occasionally in search of inspiration and unique pieces that go beyond mainstream mass-produced fashion.

Found objects can become the starting point for an imaginary journey and thus a design muse. Discovering a story behind these objects can further stimulate the imagination, ideally until the designer has a sketchbook full of ideas to support the design process.

If you have the opportunity, the following international markets offer a true cornucopia of inspiration:

• Marché Aux Puces – Porte De Clignancourt, France
• Portobello Road Market – London, United Kingdom
• Feria de San Telmo – Buenos Aires, Argentina

06 Foreign Cultures

Have you ever wondered why Japanese motifs are so popular in fashion collections? It's because designers love to draw inspiration from the vibrant and multifaceted Japanese culture in general.

Asian motifs and themes fascinate us in the Western world and possess a unique allure. The fashion, patterns, colors, and hairstyles differ so greatly from what we have here in the West that the temptation is too great to ignore. The entire atmosphere created by these exotic images and colors is truly captivating for us in Western cultures.

Other foreign, exotic and distant cultures can of course also serve as a source of inspiration.

Fashion designs inspired by cultural elements

7 travel destinations

In principle, foreign, unfamiliar and distant places are always well suited to breaking out of familiar thought patterns and giving the sluggish mind a good shake and getting it moving again.

If you, as a fashion designer, keep your eyes open and your mind active, you can discover new and exciting opportunities for design development almost everywhere. Remember that everything around you has the potential to become part of your research and thought process.

This applies especially to travel and city breaks.

Exploring and learning about other cultures, countries, and places can be a rich source of inspiration. The impressions and information gathered can then be translated into contemporary fashion design.

Major fashion houses often send their design teams abroad for research purposes . They keep a photographic diary, complete with sketches of their discoveries, documenting all their findings. These can include fabric scraps, jewelry, artifacts, garments, or accessories.

Travel is always a question of budget, and unfortunately, one cannot visit all the beautiful places on our enchanting Earth.

However, the following destinations, some more relevant than others, should be at the top of the list for (fashion) designers:

• Paris
• new York
• London
• Los Angeles
• Milan, Italy
• Rome
• Barcelona, ​​Spain
• Madrid
• Berlin
• Florence, Italy
• Tokyo, Japan
• Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
• Abidjan, Ivory Coast
• Accra, Ghana
• Auckland, New Zealand
• Beirut, Lebanon
• Jakarta, Indonesia
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Lagos, Nigeria

08 Architecture

Since we're on the topic of travel and world metropolises, you'll also find another source of inspiration there, in addition to the people: buildings and structures.

Some architectural landmarks are so elegant and so distinctive in their form that they can easily serve as mental inspiration for new garments. The chosen combination of colors can also inspire and spark new ideas.

It's not just about using completely outlandish buildings as models for haute couture collections. Architecture is a sublime art form, and its elegant lines, dynamic forms, and playful silhouettes provide countless inspirations for the fashion world's catwalks. Whether from antiquity, Rococo, Baroque, or Bauhaus ... the breadth of architecture over the past 3,000 years offers a wide spectrum of styles, eras , and expressions.

Fashion collections inspired by architecture, sculptures and paintings

09 Traditional Clothing

Alongside vintage fashion and cultural role models, traditional robes, dresses, shirts and costumes from various nations, regions and cultures are displayed.

There are entire countries, like India, where traditional clothing is still widespread. In such countries, the use of traditionally rooted patterns, colors, and designs in fashion collections is a natural choice.

In many other countries—including most Western nations—people have long since stopped wearing traditional clothing. In these cases, it's not obvious to look to traditional garments for inspiration. Here, incorporating traditional elements into modern fashion designs requires more effort and creativity. But the results could be all the more rewarding…

10 Nature

Finally, we come to what is probably the most “natural” and obvious source of inspiration of all: nature. It surrounds us, we inevitably encounter it almost every day, and yet we sometimes overlook what is right in front of our eyes.

The ability to appreciate the wonders and beauty of nature needs to be retrained. Only with open eyes and a certain degree of mindfulness can the astonishing diversity of shapes and colors be captured in a stimulating way.

It's sometimes hard to imagine that someone could come up with a clothing design simply by looking at a sunset or a tree line. But nature is a great source of inspiration.

Fashion designs inspired by plants

Fashion designers would be either crazy or terribly ignorant not to draw on it. Fortunately, they make extensive use of this inexhaustible source of concepts, moods, impulses, and inspiration.

This is also the case with the illustrated book "Flora Fashion," which brings us back to the starting point of this article. In the following section, we will show you how this book of fashion illustrations was inspired by the world of botany and what wonderful results this has yielded.

Inspired by nature and botany – The illustrated book “Flora Fashion”

Nature has provided important inspiration for fashion ever since humans began covering their bodies with clothing. The kaleidoscopic and diverse world of botany, in particular, is a virtually inexhaustible source of fertile ideas regarding shapes, colors, patterns, textures, and materials.

This was also the approach taken by the international designers who contributed to this illustrated book, drawing inspiration from flora and fauna. The result is a lively, colorful, and delicate journey into the world of plants and fashion.

Established designers as well as talented up-and-coming designers ensure a wonderful mix of high-quality fashion illustrations from different fashion styles.

From flower to design

Starting with a plant of their choice, the designers developed a design based on its distinctive colors, shapes, and patterns. Ideas took shape in sketches and drawings, which an illustrator then translated into beautiful fashion illustrations.

The only requirement for the choice of designers was that the plant emphasized or reflected its individual cultural origin.

The multicultural mix of their creators thus became a defining element of the floral illustrations, as did the diversity of the plant world.

The following fashion designers contributed to the photo book:

• Louise Sommerlatte (Kenya)
• Emine Capartas (Türkiye)
• Elena Nazaroff (USA)
• Hassan (Afghanistan)
• Zahra (Afghanistan)
• Rula (Syria)
• Aphia Sakyi (Ghana)
• Sabine Feuilloley (France)
• Lara Regula (Germany)
• Sarah Wolff (Germany)

…and these plants served as inspiration :

• Aloe Africana
• Alpine gentian
• Iris
• California wildflowers
• poppy
• clove
• sunflower
• tulip
• Imperial Crown
• Vetches

This photo book truly deserves the rating "Highly recommended". It's also available as a free download directly from the Flora Fashion website.