Spotlight is a regular series where we feature a prominent person in the creative scene.

Northern Ireland native Mark Byrne has always been interested in art, design and creative industries – he hosted his first charity fashion show, raising money for Cancer Research, at just 17. While studying for a degree in event management at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, he worked on large scale events including the MTV Music Awards and Live Aid. On graduation, he followed another professional passion: international travel – the agency he worked for relocating him to Shanghai in 2010, where he launched The Flower Wall Company a few years later.

How did The Flower Wall Company come about?
I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit and needed more creative freedom. After working for the travel agency eight years I couldn’t help but miss my involvement in the event planning and management industry. Shanghai seemed like the perfect place to get into events and try out various ideas and novelties.

In 2012 I took a leap of faith and started a consultancy agency with the backbone of events and weddings. Florals have always been a must-have at weddings, but it went to another level when Kim Kardashian got married to Kayne West in front of a stunning fresh flower wall. The pictures went viral all over the world, and it then became the undeniable trend for all kinds of celebrations, not merely weddings.

Fresh flower walls are incredibly expensive and have a truly short life span. So, I decided to research, design and create lifelike reusable artificial flower walls at a fraction of the price. We now have flower walls available for rental throughout China, and to buy in China and across the world. How has the demand for Flower Wall evolved?
When we were just starting there was a huge demand for flower walls at events and weddings. We were pleasantly surprised how often we had requests to design a flower wall for different alcohol branding and launching events; as the components of many spirits are botanicals, a corresponding floral design as a backdrop for a launch or ad campaign has become very popular.

Later, we started to get more and more inquiries to design permanent interior décor installations. As social media was embracing the ‘selfie’ more and more, businesses found a brilliant way to advertise and grow their following by adding an ‘Instagrammable’ space. Having a flower wall in a store or coffee shop inevitably attracts more people to take a picture and share it on their social media.

However, one of our first interior design creations was for The Bachelorette’s star Ali Fedotowsky’s nursery. She did not want the room to be just a simple classic nursery, hoping to make it as flower-filled as possible for her baby girl. Since then we have created and designed flower walls for cafés, Michelin star restaurants, salons, hotels, SPAs and even corporate meeting rooms. What is the most exciting event you have done?
We have […]