STYLE JOURNAL
EMILY THOMPSON
Emily Thompson is a celebrated artist using flowers and nature as her medium. Her namesake floral design firm, Emily Thompson Flowers, based in New York City, showcases organic elements through rare, seasonal flowers and plants arranged to inspire an outlook for the unique.
Emily’s clients range from influential fashion houses & media like Bottega Veneta, Jason Wu, Tiffany & Co., KERING, Vogue, and T Magazine, to museums and institutions such as The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Frick Collection, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and The White House.
During SFERRA’s collaboration with Emily on its spring campaign, we spoke with her about her career in floral design.
Photos courtesy of Fredrika Stjärne
"The neutral table linens created a nice canvas for the colorful flower arrangement and bountiful fruit selection."
- emily thompson
How did you start your career in floral arrangement, and do you have a particular way of starting the creative process?
I came to flowers by accident from sculpture and quickly found myself entranced by the infinite materials of the medium. My creative process is deeply lodged in the season, in the precise moment of what is awakening and bursting forth from the ground. I usually begin with a flower or branch that makes my blood rush and then begin the hunt for its companions.
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What was a most memorable project that you’ve designed, and why?
It’s hard to choose, but one of the most difficult and magnificent challenges so far was to develop designs for Philip Johnson’s interiors for restaurants The Pool and The Grill (formerly the Four Seasons). We built a fourteen-foot sculpture every week for two years with flowers and branches inside the famous pool.
You were invited to be the guest designer for Holidays at The White House. What was the most unforgettable part of the project?
It was an extraordinary feeling to emerge into the East Room (the ballroom) before dawn, carrying a historic gold vermeil urn filled with my flowers, and place it on the mantle opposite the giant portraits of George and Martha Washington. It was the final touch before the press arrived. I had chills.
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What was the inspiration behind the two tables you styled for SFERRA?
The first one is a riot of Icelandic poppies—one of the most exuberant flowers—dancing on a meadow of green linens in several shades. The second one is composed of dappled and veined patterned leaves with rich reds and fuchsias of camellia and cyclamen. The deep and rich tones of the flowers are softened with pale tablecloths, balanced with tonal Raspberry dinner napkins.
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What are your favorite florals for spring?
For spring bouquets, I love the flowering branches of quince, plum and all the orchard fruits. Then, hellebores and bulbs begin the season, while lilac, forget-me-nots and bleeding heart bring us into early summer.
