Australian designer, Julia Rose, had a dream. It had taken hope, hard work, and outrageous creativity to make her ‘flowers on the NYFW runway’ dream come true.
Julia watched in awe as her floral couture collection paced the red carpet on Runway 7 and Times Square during New York Fashion Week. This Princess of Petals highlighted the natural beauty of stunning models by draping them in garments of gorgeous flowers. Each breathtaking design as unforgettable as it was unexpected. Original. Organic. Julia's live, wearable art beautifully expressed our on-trend love of fresh flowers in high fashion.
Photo: Flowers by Julia Rose / Fiafia Art
“I love sharing my creativity and thinking that it might inspire someone else to be creative,” Julia says, as she begins her story.
Growing into her creativity
From the ages of 16 to 21, Julia did a traineeship and an apprenticeship for certification in floristry. Followed by the five-year gap she took to travel and explore other creative fields.
Julia worked in theater - in performance and designing costumes. She sold art. She was using her creativity, but not in floristry. Later, her creative endeavors came together to inspire the floral artist Julia is today. “The work I did in my 30s in performance and costuming had a huge influence on the way I use flowers,” Julia explains.
“When I came back, everyone said “Now that you've finished traveling, you need to grow up and be an adult. Get a real job.” Julia continues. She returned to working in a flower shop,
managing the wedding and corporate events across five locations.
Julia also taught floristry at TAFE in Australia - an educational facility that offers certifications in floristry. ”I am classically trained. I know all of the techniques. Everything I create is fully wired.” Julia started mixing the floral skills with techniques she learned in the theatre and arts to create floral couture.
Julia Rose floral couture
Photo: Flowers by Julia Rose / czLadyy_
Floral couture was unconventional at the time. “Everyone laughed at me and said it was silly. It didn't bother me. I created floral couture purely for my own joy.” When working from your spirit, people are naturally drawn to your joy. People saw her passion and connected with it. “It sounds cliché, but they say people can see passion. They feel it.”
A fresh flower costume can take 24 to 48 hours to design. Wednesday, opening night on the red carpet would have three models. Julia had three days to prepare. For Friday, she had two days to prepare for three models. Then, prepare for the one model on Saturday she still hoped to get. When that model arrived, he brought along two others. In the four short hours left, she dressed them as well.
Flower couture products
Photo: Flowers by Julia Rose/ Randi Roberts Photo
Smithers-Oasis sponsored the products Julia needed for the floral couture of the NYFW runway. She used traditional materials and floristry techniques in non-traditional ways to create her designs. Stitching floral couture like you would stitch traditional couture, but with wires instead of cotton thread.
“There's no glue,” Explains Julia. “Instead, I use different gauges of Flat Wire, Aluminum Wire and Bind Wire. My toolkit is just all wire and a pair of pliers and some parafilm.” Parafilm is a high stretch plastic tape available in the UK. It is a product similar to the floral tape sometimes called paper tape or corsage tape used in America.
Dressing models with couture
Photo: Flowers by Julia Rose/ Randi Roberts Photo
On the last day, the agency rang up and said “If you were to get another model, what type of model would you like?" She requested a striking model with a commanding presence.
The agency delivered. Quite tall in stature, the model was visually impressive. His costume’s structural base was made from Floral Mesh. “It was laid out and then we stitched everything onto that base to make his cape.”
See the video of her breathtaking floral cape and other couture in action:
@flowersbyjuliarose Instagram
@flowersbyjuliarose Instagram
The gentleman, had a really strong flat solid chest, really strong nose, a strong line in his jaw. The angles of his pose for the photos are sharper and stronger.“ I'd get him to turn his head basically so he was looking in the other direction. Instantly that creates a larger negative space in the image. The design becomes more enjoyable to the viewer without them knowing why. The reason is that it's painted with light,” which essentially is what a photo is - capturing elements in the light.
Julia created pockets within the floral mesh. “I always put in water tubes so the flowers can be water sourced. It does add a bit of weight, but when you're building a costume, you make sure that weight is on parts of the model that makes it more comfortable.”
Positioning the weight and pressure of a design at the front and back of the body makes it quite comfortable. Once you start getting pressure down lower, it becomes uncomfortable. Julia’s forms sit comfortably because she carefully positions the pressure of the flowers in each design. A technique she learned from costume designing.
The cape was actually lined in faux fur stitched onto the mesh. Then, flowers were sewn onto the mesh on the outer coat. The water vials were hidden under and in between the faux fur.
“When you wear a big fur jacket, you have a big fur collar and hood. You can have a downwards pressure and it makes it quite comfortable,” says Julia.
Dressing the model
Flowers by Julia Rose / CLK Photography
Julia’s mental image of a design starts with the model. The color of skin, line of jaw, palate, structure, length of legs, and width of chest establish the visual imagery. These elements become her palette and canvas.
She starts her design process by pining the base layer of the costume onto a mannequin. Depending on the costume, the base layer might be constructed of Floral Mesh, Florist Netting (chicken wire), fabric, or actual clothing. She uses Bind Wire to hand sew flowers into a design.
One model had a round hairline and a pink round lip. “I gave him pink flowers and made the design round to match his actual hairline,” says Julia. She used gold Floral Mesh for the base because she wasn't sure if I would be exposed or not. She used Design Master color spray to match the flowers’ color to the model’s lip. Adapting the design to showcase the model.
Raising a floral army for large installations
Photo: Flowers by Julia Rose/ Perri Sage (left), Flowers by Julia Rose/ Randi Roberts Photo (right)
Julia also does interactive and immersive art, bringing to life big, large scale installations. “I do call outs to raise a floral army. I invite people in. I invite gardeners, flower lovers, florists, artists, and photographers. People get upset about this, but there's a reason that I do it.”
Julia knows that a photographer will look at a flower differently than a florist does. When you put different groups of people together, the environment changes. “There’s creativity and different views and perspectives of the flowers and it's beautiful,” she explains. Julia’s partner, Rod, is creative as well. A builder and musician, he travels with her and builds all the sets.
The challenge of creating wearable art
What is Julia’s greatest challenge? ”Well … they are flowers,” she laughs. "And, we all know that challenge.” So many of the fresh flowers must be applied just prior to an event.
Also challenging are the sleepless nights. “But, that's what we all face when we're doing those big gigs. It's one week. You basically know, you're not going to sleep during that week, because it's all last minute.” Julia shrugs. “It's that madness that you love, right? That sort of a high that you get. When it's over, you sleep for three days.”
Julia knows her work will be professionally executed and beautifully done, “So, I don't stress. If a flower doesn't go the way I want it to, it was never meant to be. What I love is creating something for my own passion. That's my joy.”
The morning that we spoke online, the creative couple was especially joyful. They had just received fantastic news. “We have been invited back to New York Fashion Week for a second time! Rod will make the music that goes to the runway,” Julia shared excitedly. “And we'll have all of our models back. We'll do it again but this time we'll do it like a production, creating more big dreams and sleepless nights!" Follow their journey back to the runway @flowersbyjuliarose on Instagram.
Dreams do come true. What floral dream do you wish to bring to life?
Designer:
@flowersbyjuliarose
Models:
@vincentsnyder_
@gavinbryce_
@lauryn3l
@katietraore_
@sshariik
By @yaniimodels
@harley_petit_frere
@abidifashion
@markendydy
@beingkourt
@jj_andrekovich
@bowerslyndsey
By @barbaracgmodels
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