Whitney Bromberg Hawkings How did Whitney Bromberg Hawkings go from a top role working for one of the most beloved American designers to become the go-to florist for the fashion world? The founder of Flowerbx tells The Daily Summer how a long-running position at Tom Ford inspired her to take a leap and create an inventive and chic new way to order flowers online .

Tell us how Flowerbx came to life.
After working for Tom Ford for 19 years and feeling frustrated with the cost and inconsistency of the flowers I was buying and sending, I wanted to create a global branded floral offering. Also, as a working mom, I was buying everything online, from my clothes and beauty products to my groceries and organic produce. Fresh flowers were the one thing I couldn’t buy, in a simple, chic, and consistent way, online.

What’s the difference between Flowerbx and a florist?
What differentiates us from other florists is that we’re buying and selling flowers in a completely new way. We have eschewed traditional bouquets stuffed with filler for single varietal bunches of one type of flower. Our unique negative working-capital business model means we only cut flowers that you have purchased already and deliver them to you the day that they arrive to us. This eliminates any waste, making us a more sustainable option than a traditional florist, and crucially allows us to offer flowers that are days fresher at a fraction of the price of other florists. (courtesy) How did you get it off the ground?
I was so lucky that, after working for Tom Ford for so long, I had a great little black book of a lot of the world’s most fabulous people, and I felt so lucky and grateful that they all got behind me and supported me in this new venture immediately. Whoever says that fashion people are fickle is completely wrong.

You have an unusual background for someone now in the floral business. Tell us about your career before Flowerbx.
I started my career, straight out of school, as Tom Ford’s PA at Gucci in Paris in 1998. That led to a two-decade-long career by his side, where I had the ride of a lifetime! I left Gucci with him in 2005 and headed up communications for his eponymous brand, when I left to start Flowerbx.

You were with Tom for 19 years. What did you learn about business from him?
I couldn’t have learned from a better teacher how to build a successful, recognizable, and powerful brand, but that was just one of the many lessons I learned during my time working for Tom. He taught me the importance of hard work and perseverance but also about the art of creating desire, and I have applied all these learnings to Flowerbx. You’re now known as the go-to florist for the fashion set in Europe. What does that praise from the industry mean to you, and what companies are you working with?
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