Of Course Florals Are Trending For Spring, But What's So Groundbreaking About It This Year?

Analyzing what even the most obvious fashion trends can tell us about today's fashion landscape.

Fashion, despite quick surges in micro trends here and there, can be quite a cyclical and predictable space. Just think about how seemingly everything that was once popular and then went “out” of style tends to come back after a certain number of years. Like Hervé Léger and Alaïa bandage dresses, or, most recently, Valentino’s Rockstud heels. Often, it’s only a matter of time before a fashion fad resurfaces on a large-scale, as most cycle back around.

The predictability of fashion is also seen on a shorter, seasonal cycle, with trends naturally rising and falling on an annual schedule. Like swimsuits rising in popularity during the summer, or burgundy becoming the go-to color in the fall, or jackets seeing a surge during the winter. Duh.

So, now that the weather is finally getting warmer and we’re headed into spring, florals are once again rising in popularity. Right on schedule. However, even though it isn’t particularly “groundbreaking” to see florals around this time of year (as Miranda Priestly famously noted in The Devil Wears Prada), there is still something interesting that can be learned from analyzing their current rise, anyway.

In fact, this year’s “florals for spring” resurgence is actually not so business-as-usual. When I took a look at Google and Pinterest search traffic, I found that searches for florals are, on average, around 36% higher right now versus this time last year. Huh. Florals are, like, really in this spring.

So, while it’s certainly expected to see this fashion fad rise in popularity right now, why are florals rising a lot more than usual? What’s happening to make this year’s spring, and the popularity of florals that naturally comes along with it, so different?