The subjects of portraitists like John Singer Sargent wear delicate flowers pinned on their gowns, which I always assumed were fresh real ones. But, if you think about it, that would not have been possible.

Producing those artificial flowers is an intricate and ancient art which requires many specialised crafts. In order to produce a single flower, you need tools to cut and press the fabric into the correct shape, colours for the right hue, glue for the assembly, powder for certain effects on the petals and resin to give the fabric the right consistency and not least the humble wire covered in fabric that serves as the stem. Most of these crafts have now fallen into disuse, due a lack of demand with the advent of mass-produced artificial flowers from Asia.

For Bernard Depoorter this is only another downturn in the regular cycle of flower making. He believes that the time has come again for people to appreciate the true beauty of artificial flowers crafted individually. They are another part of the art de vivre taught by his grandfather.

We visited Bernard Depoorter’s studio on a beautiful October day, courtesy of the Luxembourg Group of Femmes d’Europe. Bernard and his business partner Maryse Genet set up shop in his old family home, a former printing company. It is a charming set of buildings situated around a wild flower garden, a tranquil haven in the middle of Wavre. Bernard and Maryse have made it their lives’ work to preserve and re-cultivate the art of flower making. Bernard gave us an enthusiastic talk on how he had collected tons and tons of tools for flower-making from all over Europe and even Tunisia, saving them for the future and also from his main competitor in this field, Chanel. Of all the big fashion houses, only Chanel, once under the business savvy Karl Lagerfeld, has preserved the art of flower making in-house and, like Bernard, is in constant search for the relevant tools. As flower making tools are no longer being produced, the only way of obtaining them is by buying existing ones from businesses that are giving up or closing down.

While listening to Bernard explaining all this, I was wondering why on earth one set or a few sets of tools are not enough ? Why do you need tons and tons of them ? Things became clear when we entered the workshop. It was lined from floor to ceiling with shelves on which were stocked, what must have been tens of thousands of different metal shapes resembling leaves and flower petals from an entire botanical encyclopedia. You need a different tool for every petal and every leaf of every flower you want to produce. And these tools always come in threes -. one to cut the shape from the fabric, as well as one negative and one positive shape for pressing the cut fabric into the right shape. Each tool is unique. If you have it, no-one can reproduce the flower you created with it. It is like a signature.

Bernard’s first foray into flower making was a commission from the Belgian Prince Laurent for a dress for his wife, Claire, to wear at the National Day parade. Bernard designed a dress inspired by Dior’s New Look, decorated with a garland of flowers. He cut the flowers with scissors from the same fabric as the dress. When seeing the dress on TV the last major Belgian florist (as makers of artificial flowers are called !) felt the need to contact Bernard. She introduced him to the techniques of flower making and advised him that scissors are not involved. She taught him and Maryse the trade and provided them with their first set of tools.

Bernard decided to go full time into flower making during COVID. He was educated in all the big couture houses in Paris and aspired to a career in haute couture. He first got interested in fashion when going through the clothes of his great-grandmother and his grandmother who had worn designers like Worth, Poiret, Schiaparelli or Dior. During Covid demand for haute couture completely collapsed, but with flower making Bernard found his calling and his unique selling point in a competitive market. He and Maryse produce flowers for weddings, banquets and movies, but also for big fashion houses like Dior, who do not make their own flowers. It is just the two of them, often supported by interns and family members.

The company’s aim is however not only commercial. Bernard and Maryse want to protect and revive the heritage of flower making in a museum. This art has a history of many centuries and originated in China. Marco Polo brought the know-how and the tools to Europe. This craft experienced its first real flowering through Queen Marie Antoinette, who catapulted artificial flowers into the height of fashion, only for them to be banned during the French Revolution. The fashion of the 18th century again required a lot of flowers on the crinolines and later on the Cul de Paris as well as on the enormous picture hats, which could accommodate an entire garden with the odd bird thrown in. The two world wars and Asian mass-production nearly killed off artificial flowers, which barely held on through a few royals and haute couture.

Bernard and Maryse have amassed a vast collection of artifacts illustrating this long history. These include bills, sample books and advertisements as well as reports and pictures of the often appalling working conditions for the mainly female labour force at the production sites. They also own tools that are very old, some of them contemporary to Marie-Antoinette. The main exhibits would of course be the great collection of artificial flowers which presently live in a very large number of boxes. Some of these flowers are more than 200 years old and most of them show an astounding level of detail. A spray of ‘pocket flowers‘ (Calceolaria) were so realistic that I had to ask if they were real, only to be told that they were more than 100 years old. One bridal crown that dates from the beginning of the 18th century was so delicate, it had parts of its centre made from the hairs of a rabbit.

I hope that soon we will be able to make an excursion to the museum for artificial flowers in Wavre ! I wish Bernard and Maryse good luck for this endeavour and thank them for supporting our association and providing us with such an interesting insight into beauty and an important part of art de vivre.

Gudrun Schmid,
German Group