Maximalist floral jewellery is back: from Bad Bunny, Cardi B and Aimee Lou Wood sporting dazzling brooches at the Met Gala, to Bottega Veneta’s and Boucheron’s 2025 collections

May 14, 2025

Floral motifs are experiencing a resurgence – as seen on the red carpet, the runway, and in new high jewellery collections embracing maximalism. Photo: Getty Images

They may be timeless, but floral motifs are experiencing a significant resurgence – as seen on the red carpet and in new high jewellery collections embracing maximalism

Flower motifs have existed in most civilisation’s fashion, jewellery, art and home decor for as long as humans have had the tools to create them. A signifier of the end of winter and the promise of more fruitful days to come, florals are inherently tied to the spring season and signify rebirth, as well as beauty, femininity, purity and sophistication.

The ancient Greeks designed the Kritonios crown, an ornate golden wreath of intertwined narcissi, roses, myrtle and bindweed flowers; Chinese empresses of the Song dynasty wore hair pins with intricate plum blossom designs made from kingfisher feathers; and the Victorian era saw an obsession with the language of flowers, with blooms of all kinds incorporated into cameo brooches, rings and more to communicate emotions from love and affection to grief.

Flowers remain a favourite of luxury jewellery designers. This year’s Met Gala, held on May 5, explored the theme of the “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; in particular, the concept of black dandyism, the flamboyant style used by black men in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One facet of that style, spotted on the Met’s flower-printed carpet, was the boutonnière or buttonhole – a floral decoration on a tuxedo or suit lapel.