Fair Trade Floral Design at the V&A

We delivered a workshop at the Victoria and Albert Museum on 1 December. The journey to the market was especially beautiful walking across the park with its crispy fields and bare trees in the winter sunlight. Lauren was impressed with the dedication and enthusiasm of Marissa, the workshop assistant, who was standing waiting for her at the flower market at 6:00 am. It was lovely driving over to the V&A and passing the Natural History Museum in awe of the architecture and design – the scaled reptilian brickwork is exactly right for the purpose of the building. It was bordering eerie walking into the V&A with no sound of other people and being watched by the big golden angel called ‘Spirit’ that looks over the staff entrance.

Preparation was fun, with Marissa and Lauren setting out the Rainforest Alliance certified flowers for the bouquets. The workshop was equal parts theory, practice and creative space. We talked a lot about our experiences of flowers and how we see them in the world for the future. Lauren demonstrated small arrangements that have a low impact on resources and high visual flair. Participants then made their own arrangements and bouquets.

The women attending were a mix of experienced florists and inexperienced flower lovers and came from several different countries including Kenya, Italy and Canada. We would like to thank everyone who participated – Lauren had a great time sharing her experiences. We look forward to further collaborations with the V&A in the future.