Home Humans of Hackney Mairead & Atheane – Floral Stylists

Mairead & Atheane – Floral Stylists

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Founders of Rebel Rebel Florist

We set up our own company in 2000 with almost no experience at all and winged it. We just loved flowers, and thought we could do it.  We do regular workshops in our Hackney base behind broadway market once a month.  We do a five day residential course in Italy twice a year which covers a lot of basics and you get to eat gorgeous food and drink nice wine, and we teach regularly in Beijing at Cohim.

Where do we get inspiration that influences our work?

Well, David Bowie! And Caravaggio and Ava Gardner and Vogue Italia, US Vogue now too, and Shane Connolly and Constance Spry and Steely Dan and Shakespeare and everything we see and do. We used to get inspiration from the BBC but they’ve gone off lately.

Our favourite garden is Great Dixter in Kent – the house was designed by Lutyns and Christopher Lloyd’s garden is just a dream.

We went to Luoyang in China for the peony festival last year. It’s where the International Peony Garden is, and is actually the centre of Chinese civilization, though they dismiss it as a minor city of 6 million people!  There are hundreds of acres of peonies and they are truly amazing. But even more amazing are the Longmen grottos nearby which house thousands of Buddhas – it is the most moving and spiritual place we’ve ever been.

When we did a huge floral eye for the final series of Big Brother on Channel 4 and the photos were blown up to huge billboards and featured all over London – that was pretty special. We loved making a 4.5m high ‘Wardian Case’ for last years Mayfair in Bloom installation at Sketch. And this year we got a Gold and an Innovation award for our Lucas Hugh window in Chelsea in Bloom.

Floristry trends for 2018? 

With the power of Instagram whatever’s happening in New York! Dried flowers are popular. Sprayed mad colour. Tropicals.

www.rebelrebel.co.uk