I am loving banana leaf print on any of my clothes right now.
Remember that scene in The Devil Wears Prada when Andy (Anne Hathaway) chuckles at Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) because she can't decide between two seemingly similar belts and Miranda unleashes her fury on her? Just to recap, because it's one of my most favorite scenes in any movie, ever. Miranda glances at her with a death stare and then says, "Okay, I see. You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select that lumpy, loose sweater, for instance, because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back, but what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue. It's not turquoise. It's not lapis. It's actually cerulean. And you're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns, and then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent who showed cerulean military jackets, and then cerulean quickly shot up in the collections of eight different designers. And then it filtered down through department stores, and then trickled on down onto some tragic Casual Corner where you no doubt fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs, and it's sort of comical how you think you made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing a sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff."
At the Dolce and Gabbana collection preview, 2016.
Well, that is how I feel about banana leaf print right now. Did Cerulean exist prior to 2002 and Oscar de la Renta? Yes, just like Millenial Pink existed prior to 2014--we just didn't call it that nor was it a trend. You know that banana leaf pattern you keep seeing everywhere? It didn't just end up on that Forever 21 tank top you love so much. Here's a brief history of the current must-have print.
The Beverly Hills Hotel has had the now infamous Martinique banana leaf wallpaper for more than 50 years, created by Don Loper in 1942. If you haven't seen countless Instagram post in the photo-worthy halls I'm not sure who you're following on social media (certainly not @bevhillshotel). Fast-forward to 1985, Blanche Devereaux, of The Golden Girls, had banana leaf wallpaper and a matching bedspread in her Florida abode. And it was Dolce and Gabbana, Prefall 2016, who created a gorgeous collection that I know firsthand (because we couldn't keep it in stock) made everyone fall in love with this tropical print, which just so happens to be perfect for summer.
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(lucky for you, the Dolce and Gabbana ones are now on sale)