'Challenges inspire me'

What typifies master florist Sören Van Laer is his strength to try new things with existing materials, to experiment and give them his own signature. 'I took a horticultural course and completed it with a specialization year in floral design. At school I mastered the most important basic techniques but the full perfection in floral design was on my internship with Geert Pattyn in Geluwe. Here I learned a lot of new techniques, I could 'steal a lot with my eyes'.

Through his participation in the Fleur Talent project, Sören became acquainted with the whole floral chain and was able to expand his network. 'I get my inspiration from my surroundings, from nature, from vegetative materials, but also other materials from the construction industry, for example, can be a source of inspiration.'

"I love challenges. For example, Cymbidium is not immediately the most obvious flower to work with, but exactly this encourages me to get creative. The exoticism of this flower really appeals to me.'

'Finding matching flowers to the treasures found outside'

Moniek Vanden Berghe is an authority on floral design. After training in various art disciplines, Moniek found her true passion in floral art. Her natural feeling for shape and color, contrast, texture and structure resulted in a highly personal, elegant and contemporary arrangement style. Moniek is known for her trend-setting bridal work, which resulted in the book series Flowers in Love, but also very refined mourning work and nature-inspired creations belong to her palmares.

'Essentially, I find inspiration in the season and in the natural surprises that each season brings. Different weather conditions bring different colors to leaves, for example. Dry and sunny weather lets the fluff dry out and fan out earlier, humidity brings earlier decay and skeletonization. Finding matching flowers and substrates to the treasures found outside is very exciting.'

'Everything in my work serves the flowers'

Master florist Geert Pattyn's style is best described as pure, simple and natural. 'Making the world more beautiful and creating atmosphere with flowers and plants, that has been my ultimate goal for over thirty years. Aesthetics are very important in my profession. I started as an employee in a flower store, after ten years I founded my own studio in the farm in Geluwe where I grew up.'

'Fashion, design, art and gastronomy are important sources of inspiration for me, but nature is and remains my main source of nourishment. My specialization is occasional work: everything in my work is at the service of flowers. For example, creating with Cymbidium is a challenge. It is a very powerful flower that also glories in a simple creation.'

'I love geometric shapes. The square is a simple shape that you can play with in different ways: open-closed, dark-bright - a theme that offers many possibilities. For example, by working with small squares within large squares, you can also create depth in your work.'

Sparkling Christmas

Whether you go for an expressive eye-catcher or a rustic and subdued Christmas arrangement: Christmas anno 2023 sparkles! Perhaps it has to do with the zeitgeist that makes people feel the need for coziness, a beautifully decorated table, a warm home. A spectacular eye-catcher in the store is therefore really recommended. The enchantment that comes with Christmas then already starts with a few eye-catchers in the flower store.

'Working ahead saves a lot of stress'

Floral designer Hanneke Frankema knows better than anyone how busy the run-up period to Christmas can be for florists. You had better be well prepared for Christmas. It is very handy to make a large number of bases in the quiet hours, for example in the summer. Make it so that all you have to do is add a few fresh flowers - although dried flowers are still fine too. If something sells you can then quickly grab a new ground from the stock, hop a single fresh flower in and sell it again.'

'So when making the arrangements for this edition of DPK, I looked closely at fun solutions for beautiful bases for winter and Christmas that can be prepared easily and quickly. Like tea light holders that you can pimp and trendy circles with lots of dried and repaired materials. Also, the appeal of a group of arrangements in different sizes (and prices) is great. Mass is checkout.

'Working ahead saves many overtime hours and a lot of stress during busy days. And, substrates are also super fun to make - I think!'

'This time we must 'seize' in full'

Florist Alex Aalders runs a flower store in Assen. 'I grew up with a father who was into 'gardens', so flowers came my way at an early age. In terms of inspiration I get a lot from creative colleagues, I like to visit trade events, and look at trade magazines, but also architecture, fashion and vacations, bring inspiration. A regular comment I hear is that there are too big and too expensive arrangements in trade magazines - but I always think, you have to get inspiration from them, don't want to copy them.'

'Due to circumstances, Christmas doesn't mean that much to me privately. But, for the store it is of course a super creative and especially colorful time. This is a time we have to 'grab' in full - but on Christmas Eve I'm going to cocoon again.'

'It's hard to say which trends emerge, actually sustainability should be a trend, but yes, this time you sell a lot the wax amaryllis and colored branches. Personally I like Simplicity as a trend - simple in terms of layout and color, on the other hand I can also appreciate something super furry.'