Always caught up on runway trends, her designs can be found in the famous and fashion-forward Selfridges department store. However, Philippa Craddock is not a clothing designer; instead, this artist works with flowers.
Starting her career as a financial head-hunter, Philippa left that world behind to seek out a more personally-fulfilling path. She said, “I was always creative and I should have gone down that route initially, but what I learned in the City was incredible. I learned a lot about how I did not want to run a company.”
Her big break came with a bang, “We were to be on a television program, and they asked us to provide all the bridal flowers. I sort of put something together myself, which looking back on now they’re dreadful but they passed the producer’s eye, and that’s where the floral business began.”
Philippa realized that she had found her calling. “It’s something that makes complete and utter sense to me- I can very easily make something great with flowers, it’s a medium that I just absolutely get.“
Philippa Craddock Flowers has since soared; regularly being featured in magazines, supplying flowers for photo shoots, and working glamorous weddings and events worldwide. Recently opening a boutique in Selfridges has provided even more high-profile exposure, and Philippa gets busier with every season.
A creative professional needs to be up on current trends, and Philippa shared that over the past five years she has noticed a “massive” difference in popular floral styles, “When I first started out all of my heroes were doing these unbelievably compact designs, as many roses as you could use the better the design was. Now designs are typically really loose and whimsical and much much more natural.” When asked where she pulls inspiration for her work, she talked to us about her love of fashion, “We are absolutely aware of what all of the designers are doing, I’m an addict to all of the runways.”
Learn from the Best! (Perfect for Mum)
Philippa believes that everybody has an element of creativity, and on top of selling her own designs she also teaches flower arrangement courses. She likens her courses to relaxing spa days because as she describes it, “you are a million miles away from anything else and you really have to focus on what you’re doing. You really forget about all of your worries. People come in and they say ‘well I’m not particularly creative’ or ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘I’ve never been able to do this,’ and I tell them- yes you can do it, you absolutely can do it!”
Philippa’s At-Home Floral Tips
- Condition your flowers properly: cut the leaves off and cut each stem at a very sharp angle
- Change the water daily, this prevents harmful bacteria build up
- If you do not have flower food and a tiny tiny amount of bleach to the water
- Have fun and experiment! Practice and have a good play. No design is ever a bad design