Emily Baylis is much more than a florist. She has built a niche for herself, working with preserved flowers that can be reused forever. Her approach to her work is part interior designer, part floral artist, part set-design – but all designed for permanence. Her work becomes the interior design rather than just something to compliment it, and in this feature, we will explore why.
For an immeasurable amount of time, flowers have been popular and sought-after, and for good reasons. Their colours, shapes, and patterns produce joy, elevate moods, and have the ability to steal the limelight away from whatever is surrounding them. The only drawback with fresh flowers is that they will need replacing after a while, but this is no longer a problem thanks to Emily Baylis’ creative mind.
An online search for interior floral design will reveal many results (mostly printed wallpaper and soft furnishings), but few will be as literal as those created by Emily Baylis of June in March. In a crowded market, Emily has built a niche for herself creating large scale pieces of floral art that are designed to be a permanent design feature in a room.
Emily Baylis has built a vast client list containing some of the luxury retail and hospitality sectors’ biggest names. She champions the use of preserved flowers to create long-lasting floral displays for her clients, all of which can be kept or reused forever, only needing a dusting now and again.
As well as creating the interior floral design in private residences, June in March is behind the (much Instagrammed) installations in Gloria & Circolo Popolare in London, and work for St Germain, the French fashion label Sézane, House of Holland, hotel and members club Birch, Veuve Clicquot, the Chalet Experimental in Verbier, the Hotel Grand Boulevard and Lido in Paris, and Opera Garnier Paris. In addition to this, Emily has also showcased at The Venice Biennale, Chelsea Flower Show, and Milan Design Week.
Emily’s father was from England, and her mother was from France, which provided her with the unique experience of growing up in the French Alps. She developed her passion for the botanical and natural world here, thanks to her parents’ encouragement. Her use of preserved flowers to create interior design masterpieces stems from her time working in hospitality, including launching a Michelin starred restaurant in Hong Kong.
A lover of all things sensory, her goal was to build a future for herself, working in an environment that allowed her to design visual and textural masterpieces of fragrance and colour; to create art from the natural world.
Emily was aware of fresh flowers’ high turnover and resulting cost and sustainability issues. She devised an alternative to fresh and artificial flowers to help restaurant and hotel owners reduce their spending on floral displays and help to lower the impact artificial flowers had on the environment.
A move to London followed, and within a short space of time, Emily was creating long-lasting and sustainable floral installations from dried and preserved flowers for global luxury brands and private clients from her workshop in Notting Hill.
Emily said, “I am incredibly proud of June in March and of what I have achieved since arriving in London. I am able to produce works of art using one of nature’s most beautiful creations, and through the development of my practice using dried and preserved flowers, the art is long-lasting and sustainable. I know that many people have been able to enjoy it, as I see it so regularly on social media. For someone passionate about their work, this is the most valuable and rewarding aspect of what I do. It is everything to me.”
Emily Baylis works with Steve Tremblay (above) from her workshop in Notting Hilland lives nearby with her young daughter, Romane. For more information on her services, please visit www.juneinmarch.com.
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