Flaunting a flair for flowery styles, the New York Botanical Garden’s (NYBG) exhibit “The Orchids Show: Florals in Fashion” opened last week at the Enid Haupt Conservatory. It begins with a beautiful grouping of mannequins wearing bikinis, minidresses, and playsuit fashions. The looks are intricately designed in various flower patterns that are real-flower designs.
For the opening, NYBG’s Annual Orchids dinner was held on February 22, 2024. The elegant VIP affair supports the NYBG’s global research, conservation initiatives, and programs in horticulture and education to help protect biodiversity. Guests enjoyed a delicious dinner and dancing in the beautiful Orchid dinner space, designed by Crain & Ventolo. The theme was sustainability and artisanal craftsmanship.
Three designers were featured in the show. Dauphinette by Olivia Chang’s creations were stunning. The Collina Strada by Hillary Taymour brand encourages being the best version of oneself. For their strapless gown of purple orchids, Taymour used sustainable, responsible materials and flowers to create their model.
The look is fueled by fantasy, allowing visitors to slip into this not-so-quite-human world of fashion. FLWR PSTL, aka Kristen Alpaugh, takes a hip approach to her design with a floral leggy look worn with jean shorts and top. Alpaugh plants a captivating canvas. For playfulness, the designer’s bodily structured styles are combined with her signature hand-painted iridescent leaves, artichokes, tangerines, and other uncommon additions.
No medium or materials were off limits. Her design pays homage to past selves and looks optimistically to the future. Other pieces, consisting of menswear, saucer styles, and a plastic multi-color raincoat, were very wearable.
Throughout this extraordinary exhibit, orchids in vibrant colors are exploding all around. Visitors can read about orchids and learn the names of the various plants that cling to tree trunks and hang above and below the walkway, including Moth Orchids, Dancing Lady Orchids, Crane Flowers, and Water Lilies.
The desert area of the conservatory features a vast collection of gorgeous Cactus plants, including the Spiny Tree Cactus, before coming back into the end of the Orchid displays that are on view with hundreds of other plants. These fabulous, colorful orchids are always in fashion. Take the whole family and enjoy the show!
For more info, visit www.nybg.org.