Curated by Phoebe Mulrooney, PHOHM is a daring floral company whose everlasting bouquets have reshaped interiors across the city.
OvH speaks to Phoebe to mark the launch of their in-store collaboration for Chelsea in Bloom 2021, where Phoebe transformed the flagship store at 190 Pavilion Road with her striking pieces. Commissioning Phoebe to create a bespoke instalment, she channelled the daring and delightful visions of our Divine Nile Collection.
What inspired you to start PHOHM?
I founded PHOHM in 2018. After graduating from Fine Art painting at Camberwell College of Arts in 2015 I was inspired to start working in a creative industry. I’d always taken an interest in styling and arranging objects in my artworks. I started my career in prop-making and events. Floristry came very naturally to me, my background in fine art and prop making meant that I had a very clear understanding of how to put things together and create large structures for my installations. I enjoy working with everlasting florals and foliage to create displays and installations that will last - seeing much of my work as pieces of art.
You describe your florals as ‘everlasting'–what flowers do you use to achieve this? What kind of impression do you want to leave the viewer/receiver with?
We are changing the way that people view dried florals at PHOHM. The everlasting aspect encourages both our customers and commercial clients to be less wasteful with their interior decor.
How did you want to capture the spirit of Olivia von Halle? What display came to mind?
Olivia von Halle’s Divine Nile Collection was the main inspiration for our Chelsea in Bloom display. Extraordinary Voyages being the theme for 2021 meant that we could experiment with the physical essence of The Nile as well as drawing from the collection itself in terms of the colour palette used & floral illustrations on the nightwear designs. I feel that our display complements the narrative of Olivia’s Divine Nile Collection.
The idea for an immersive floral design I’d had in mind for a while. As Chelsea in Bloom is a very public event I thought it would be a shame not to have a photo opportunity within the display for every passerby to enjoy and create a lasting memory.
We were inspired by the emblems and symbolism of the Nile for this collection–how did you interpret this for the store and for Chelsea in Bloom?
I was drawn to the floral patterns and colour palettes used in The Divine Nile collection as well as the silk screen-printing process itself. The way I work and the process I’m using in this particular display is very similar to silk screen-printing by use of collage and layering. In our display we are using a combination of dried grasses, palms and lotus leaves to form our background. Over the top of that, we will be adding living grass plants at varying heights. To finish we will add fresh cut flowers in complementary tones to the collection this will elevate the whole feel of the arrangement.
You're known for the character of your designs. What are some of the most eccentric requests you've received?
To be honest, all the designs are my own. My clients trust me with the design process and are happy for me to do my own thing… to an extent. Bring on the eccentricity I say. In a recent commercial installation I covered large parts of a hotel ceiling in dried grasses and palms. It’s great to create large scale installations to show people flowers don’t just have to be in vases.
Discover the installation in-store at
190 Pavillion Road, London
20th - 26th September 2021
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