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" To celebrate Bazaar&amp;#039;s May floral issue we caught up with fashion&amp;#039;s favourite florist, Kitty Arden. Tell us a little about how you got into floristry. I went to art school at Chelsea and then Camberwell and whilst there we had to do a lot of drawing and work with textiles which included flowers. During the holidays some people I knew asked me to start decorating their parties for them. It started quite small, just dinner parties and so on, but eventually it got much bigger and I was creating props and all sorts. It just happened kind of naturally that way. What for you has been the most exciting thing you\u2019ve done with flowers? I did David Linley\u2019s wedding a few years ago which included a lot of flowers and art at the front of St. Margaret\u2019s church next to Westminister Abbey. That was great but really I\u2019d say the most exciting thing has to be decorating the Royal Barge for the Queen\u2019s Diamond Jubilee. It was so amazing to be involved and to use such beautiful English flowers in really rich colours. Going down the Thames on the barge was such a great experience \u2013 especially as I\u2019d just designed the new Prestat packaging and we had lots on board! What was it like working on Bazaar\u2019s May floral issue? I love working with Bazaar! We did an amazing shoot at Kensington Palace for the May issue, it was such a great location and the colours of the English garden roses we used just looked fantastic against the Alexander McQueen gowns. Cathy Kasterine is a brilliant stylist and the team are always such a pleasure to work with, the finished result was perfect. You\u2019ve worked quite extensively within the fashion industry, what do you like about working with fashion clients? It\u2019s always great to work with other creative people and see what they\u2019re inventing and how they\u2019re moving forward with their art form. When I\u2019m working with other people we\u2019ll always come up with a design for the flowers together but things can always change. The most exciting things always happen on the day when everyone is working and being creative together. Do you approach your floristry work in the same way you approach your other projects, such as art and product design? I always start by drawing a design. I could be decorating the interior of a palace or creating a character for a drawing, it doesn\u2019t matter, it always starts with a sketch. I also think about how I want the finished product to look, what colours I will use and how I want it too feel \u2013 normally I use lots of bright colours so the end result is fun and uplifting. Some of my art works will go on display at the RA summer exhibition this year which is so exciting. Why did you decide to branch out into dressing gowns and homeware? I designed some material when I was at art school and it sat in a cupboard in my house for 20 years. I finally showed it to some friends and they loved it; I\u2019d always wanted to design my own range so it seemed like the perfect time to do it. The designs are quite traditional, for example the shape of the dressing gowns or the wooden jigsaw pieces, but have been given a contemporary twist. The jigsaws actually came about because I couldn\u2019t find any great luxury jigsaws and they felt like the perfect way to put my art to practical use. This is quite a new venture for you, how is it going so far? Really well. It\u2019s so exciting, we\u2019re online now and also stocked in Viola on Connaught Street. It\u2019s very early days but things are moving quickly. Kitty\u2019s Top Tips for working with flowers 1. Always cut the bottoms off the stems before putting them in water 2. Try to refresh the water daily 3. Remember that buds need time to open if you are using them for an event 4. Gently spray water on the greenery to stop it overheating 5. I like to use lots of English greenery to create a romantic feel. Always put the greenery in first and then add the blooms on top \u2013 my favourite bloom at the moment is a Constance Spry. Visit kittyarden.com "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.harpersbazaar.co.uk/fashion/fashion-news/news/a30149/qa-with-kitty-arden/>