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.

Cardi B accessorised her 2025 Met Gala look with a cubic zirconia and rhodium thistle brooch from Burberry. Photo: Getty Images

Traditionally, this would have been a fresh bloom, but celebrities at the event including Cardi B, Bad Bunny and The White Lotus actress Aimee Lou Wood sported dazzling pins and brooches crafted from sparkling gemstones and shaped flowers.

Although contemporary taste often means the execution of floral designs is less traditional and more abstract, classic depictions still appear in spring collections.

For example, Boucheron’s spring 2025 high jewellery collection, Untamed Nature, reimagines everyday flora as exquisite jewels. This is not a new approach: founder Frédéric Boucheron was fascinated by the wild ivy growing along the Palais-Royal near his first shop, and he would go on to build a library of more than 600 works so that he could study the natural world in detail – including its imperfections – and create pieces based on it.

Boucheron’s spring 2025 high jewellery collection reimagines everyday flora as exquisite jewels, bringing maximalism back. Photo: Boucheron

Boucheron’s creative director Claire Choisne drew from the maison’s archive for this year’s Histoire de Style Untamed Nature collection. The 28 pieces, constructed from diamonds and white gold, are designed to be worn multiple ways, and to appear as if they are “taking over the body”. In the Fleur de Carotte (“carrot flower”) brooch, which can also be worn as a hair jewel, clusters of white petals appear fluffy thanks to three different types of settings and bezels, demonstrating technical complexity to elevate this simple bloom. Similarly, the bell-like blossoms of the Fuchsia earrings dangle realistically thanks to the fully articulated pistil.

While quiet luxury and understated elegance have dominated recent seasons through simple yet refined clothing and accessories, typically in neutral shades, the pendulum is now slowly swinging back towards bolder hues and maximalism – a perfect excuse for detailed and oversized florals.

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