Accessories are in bloom for spring, as lush floral brooches, hair embellishments and headbands are proving this season’s prettiest accompaniments. At Louis Vuitton, headbands come sporting raggedy flowers honed from Liberty fabric and lace (around $250 at Louis Vuitton, 866.vuitton), while Sonia Rykiel opted for a futuristic variety of plastic and metallic leather flowers to finish off her spangly headbands and visors ($400-$700 at Sonia Rykiel, New York, 212.396.3060, and Boston, 617.426.2033). Chez Chanel, the camelia is revisited in canvas and lace ($300-$750 at Chanel, 800.550.0005), while Marc Jacobs chose outsize silk and plastic flowers to adorn his collection’s raffia caps ($95 at Marc Jacobs, New York, 212.343.1490).
As ever, many designers called on flower specialist Maison Guillet to help their gardens grow. Founded in 1896 by Marie Guillet, the house, which was acquired by Chanel in March 2006, started out as a supplier to hatmakers. When Guillet’s grandson, Marcel, took over in 1935, business extended to lavish window displays for houses such as Elizabeth Arden, Gucci and Hermes. But it was in 1971, in the skilled hands of his daughter, Marcelle Guillet, then 23, that the house¹s long-standing love affair with fashion really took off.
“Working with couturiers, I realized, was the best way to protect the house’s creative legacy and ward off copycats,” says Guillet. She recalls delivering a spray of lilacs to Gianfranco Ferre at 4 a.m. for a bridal dress for the Christian Dior spring 1990 couture show. “I got a call at 11 p.m. saying [Ferre] would wait in his armchair for as long as it took, as the dress would be nothing without its bouquet,” she says, savoring the moment as her first recognition from the industry. In 1985, Guillet extended her services to ready-to-wear houses, crafting geometric satin flowers in electric blue, salmon and red for Thierry Mugler, orchids for Leonard and bow-shaped pins for Chanel made from human hair. “Nature is rich, and I like to exploit that,” says Guillet, who launched her own line of accessories in 1975. She cites mixed-media pieces in blends of organza, lace and leather as important now. “There’s big demand for shiny leather petals that mimic metal,” she explains, adding that oversize flowers and other romantic designs have taken off. “Brooches have been our bestseller, and headgear is so charged it blurs the line between a hat and a headband.”
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Today, Guillet and her team of 15 occupy one arch of a former railway bridge in the Bastille district. The creative process begins with the starching of the fabric used to make the petals. It’s cut using a giant press, a family heirloom, and then dyed in up to five shades. A heated tool named a balle is then pressed into the leaf to give it its form, followed by a heated pied de biche, or “deer’s foot,” that’s used to curve the petal’s sides. Each one is glued and bound to the stalk using a silk or cotton thread. It’s a process that can take up to five hours, depending on the design.
“My father taught me the skill of observation, how to understand and interpret the complex nature of flowers,” says Guillet, who often strolls in Giverny and the Jardin des Bagatelles for inspiration.
“Nature is the departure point for all of our creations,” says Guillet. “Then there are no limits to the creative heights to which fashion can take it.”
This article was published in WWD Accessories, a supplement publication of WWD available to subscribers.