Monique L'huillier worked with cherry blossom print taffeta

Monique L'huillier worked with cherry blossom print taffeta Maybe it's the grow-your-own food movement, the popularity of farmers markets, a yearning for a simpler, more technology-free life or simply that it's the spring season, but nature and botany were major themes on the runways.

Repartee's collection was like a wilderness escape to Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National parks, with wood-grain prints, carved wood barrettes, blanket checks and moss-colored lace.Carolina Herrera took colors, prints and floral appliques from 18th century botanical plates for her collection, which included a gown hand-painted with the image of a flower, complete with a French botany textbook label.

Monique L'huillier worked with cherry blossom print taffeta, draping it into a pleated A-line cocktail dress and a ball gown. (Also spotted: "sage green," "mint" and "poppy" hues.)At Donna Karan, shoes were decorated with leather leaves, and gauzy long slip dresses were "saffron-stained" and "tamarind-distressed." A rough-textured, jute-colored unbuckle jacket was reminiscent of a seed sack.