Covet: Spring florals

"Florals for spring - groundbreaking," drawled Miranda Priestly in mock disbelief at the suggestion of a seasonal cliché in The Devil Wears Prada.

Indeed, they can seem trite even in men's fashion, where flower prints are making a splash. The challenge for designers: "How do you make florals fresh (pun intended) again?"

For Tomas Maier at Bottega Veneta, the answer is to abstract and veil them such that they only suggest flowers. One runway look threw organza over floral print trousers (HK$9,280) like a veil, as though the model was wearing them inside-out. Maier recreated this effect on top with a cardigan (HK$9,980) over a flower-printed shirt (HK$5,380).

Christian Louboutin added spikes to his floral printed shoes for a contrast of hard and soft.