How big of a trend is “floral couture” in your shop and among your customers? If you sell “wearable florals,” what items are the most popular? Or is this trend something that we, as florists, are just entertaining ourselves with?
I think the trend of creating over-the-top “editorial” wearables is mostly for us to experiment, show our artistry and attract the public’s attention to the art of floral design. These are all important things as they nurture our creativity and pique the public’s interest in flowers. Real-world applications for this would be applying updated wearable floral techniques to the items that are commonly requested, such as “upping” the corsage, crown and boutonnière game for proms and weddings, and being able to offer interesting workshops to the public, such as floral tattoos, jewelry or headpieces.
Sue McLeary
Passionflower, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Gosh, I hope it’s not just a trend! I have based my whole business around the idea of floral couture! I’ve been pushing this concept for about seven years and have been a brick-and-mortar florist for three years. My customers are just coming up to speed on this fabulous trend, and I feel if I’m not entertaining myself, how do I get others excited by all those beautiful possibilities?
Samara Schmidt
Hawthorne & Vine
Grosse Ile Township, Mich.
In real life, floral couture is most popular among millennials, especially floral and succulent rings and earrings. We promote corsages and flower crowns for weddings and special events, but the popularity of corsages as given way to small hand-tied bouquets.
Carolyn Conglis
Blooms ’N Boxes
Streamwood, Ill.
Flower crowns are a great, fun type of floral couture. It may be a trend that has resurfaced from the hippie era, but here in Hawaii, “haku,” or head lei, is a staple and has become popular with tourists and for destination weddings, graduations and proms.
Deborah Di Bella,
AIFD Ambiance Today
Honolulu, Hawaii
I try to sell a piece for each wedding I do. Floral cuffs and hairpieces are my biggest sellers. They are here to stay!
Jackie Gardner
Moonset Farm; Porter, Maine
Floral couture is more of artistic expression, and this trend is more for florists to have an outlet to express their art of design and display it to their surroundings. Art for art’s sake is never a bad thing!
Christi Lopez, AIFD, EMC
Bergerons Flowers
Springfield, Va.
Floral couture enables you to showcase your abilities to your clients. It’s also good for your creative soul to do these types of fun projects. However, in terms of selling them in my business, it’s still mainly corsages, boutonnières and head wreaths. The time and resources that go into create intricate wearables will probably not produce enough return. Yes, we are entertaining ourselves, but we are also perfecting and honing our skills, which will make us better at our craft.
Jennifer Reed
Jennifer Designs; Mullica Hill, N.J.
We are just entertaining ourselves. Corsages and boutonnières are great as are headpieces and flowers on purses. But wearables? How many floral dresses can you make? How will you charge? There just isn’t enough demand to make it worthwhile.
Italo Paris
Ital Florist Ltd.
Toronto, Ont. Canada
Floral couture is not popular in Singapore. The only things worn are floral headpieces for brides or flower girls during weddings. However, I am really in love with floral couture. Currently I am promoting this trend locally by giving away floral wristlets to brides who book their weddings with me.
Serena Phua
Fleurever; Singapore
Flower rings have been a huge hit, but floral couture is hard to display and sell. We need PMA, SAF and AIFD to promote floral couture at the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, Met Gala, etc. We need to make flowers part of fashion beyond the runway!
Dennis Gilmore
H-E-B; Midland, Texas
The closest we see is a halo and not a crown, which is usually overbearing, too heavy and too clunky. No jewelry or shoe ornaments and definitely not anything wearable. If floral couture is a trend, there is no evidence of it here.
Lynn Selfridge
Doghaus Blooms & Events
Stephens City, Va.
I’m not seeing much demand for floral couture, but I’m not really marketing it. There has been an uptick
in demand for flower crowns for weddings but not the large pieces. The biggest demand is still for corsages and boutonnières for weddings, but prom flowers are declining. I think we are entertaining ourselves with this trend. Wearing flowers looks awesome in photos but isn’t practical or comfortable. People are not interested in paying money for temporary jewelry.
Oriana Hammerstrom
Woodinville Florist
Woodinville, Wash.
