French “floral fashion” designer Cyrill Tronchet wanted to be an interior designer, but a twist of fate steered him from furnishings to flowers…and the rest is already history.
We caught up with Cyrill during a busy week and asked him what he loves most about his special “metier”, and how his talent launched him from a part-time job in a French flower shop to the catwalk.
Cyrill Tronchet photo by Jakub Koziels
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CYRILL TRONCHET
French “floral fashion” designer Cyrill Tronchet wanted to be an interior designer, but a twist of fate steered him from furnishings to flowers…and the rest is already history.
We caught up with Cyrill during a busy week and asked him what he loves most about his special “metier”, and how his talent launched him from a part-time job in a French flower shop to the catwalk.
Photo credit (above)
Model Maisie Daniels, Photographer Arron Dunworth
1. When was your first “coup de foudre” (love at first sight) with flowers, do you remember? How did it lead to your signature “flower couture”.
I started floristry 12 years ago. I was dreaming of being an interior designer, but the studies were too long, and I really wanted to be creative. A friend of my parents is a florist in the town where I’m from (Le Mans-France), and when she opened her flower shop, I was helping her overtime, for free. I guess that’s how it started. Then I did floristry school for 4 years, where I spent one week at school and 3 weeks in a florist’s.
The “Flower Couture” started a long time after that, actually since I’ve been in London (6 years). I was installing flowers for luxury hotel when I worked at McQueens, and a lot of flowers were still beautiful after one week at the hotel…so I kept them and tried to create something with them…I wanted to re-use them before they died. And this is how it started…
Photo credit: Model Arabella Chi. Photographer Arron Dunworth
“Floristry is a very difficult job, not as pretty
as it looks on Instagram”
2. What is the best thing about working with flowers?
As everybody knows, flowers are amazing and beautiful, they bring so much joy for any occasions and even without occasions, they change depending on the seasons – or for me, when I install flowers somewhere (hotel, restaurant or a private house) and then go back few days later and see them in full bloom, it’s pretty satisfying!
3. And the most difficult?
Floristry is a very difficult job, not as pretty as it looks on Instagram 🙂
Waking up very early to go to the flower market to select the flowers, working with fresh products can be very challenging.We don’t want to install the flowers too “closed”, but not too open either, and they need to last around a week at our clients.
Photo credit: Model Yannick Lebrun. Photographer Darren Black
Always carrying heavy vases full of water, most of the installations need to be done before breakfast for the hotels and restaurants so it’s all very early again! For any events, we need to work in a short time, with a lot of people around, to make sure everything is ready on time, and sometime it can be very stressful.
But I do love my job !! I’m French so I’m always complaining ahah…
“My dream project?
A fresh flower dress for the Oscars…”
4. You were discovered by three of Paris’s best florists when you were a finalist in the 2012 French Flower Cup, La Coupe de France de Fleuristes. Since then, what have been the highlights and what would be your dream project?
The French Flower Cup was an amazing experience, a lot of work (and some tears) but a very good souvenir that I’m proud of! Since then I’ve been working with very talented florists around the world who I met at this event, and it’s amazing to share a passion with big names in the floral industry.
Dream project… A Vogue Cover!! A Fresh Flower dress for the Oscars…
5. If you were not working with flowers, what would you be doing, and where?
I think I would work with wood, or fabrics or ceramics… I wish I could try all those creative jobs one day.
6. And finally.. because we had to ask…what’s your favourite flower?
That’s a very cheeky question to ask to a florist!! The ferns and the dandelions are my favourites, I will say.
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Vogue cover? Watch this space.
Cyrill Tronchet on Instagram
CYRILL TRONCHETFlorist – London
07 453 880 643
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