"American Flowers Week began in 2015 as a community-focused floral holiday to encourage participation from everyone in the floral marketplace — from flower seed and bulb producers to growers; from designers to retailers; from cutting garden enthusiasts to artists. It's the original, American-grown floral holiday that stimulates interest in beauty, seasonality, local agriculture and sustainable floral design."
In March we collaborated with flower farmer Laura Mewbourn with Feast & Flora to bring the heritage and culture of coastal South Carolina's Gullah Geechee to life with a floral garment. We were inspired by Southern painter Mr. Jonathan Green and the beautiful location of our shoot at the Seashore Farmers Lodge No. 767.
"As we created Queen Giovanni (Model, Sea Island Gullah Chieftess, founding member of A Taste of Gullah) garment made of flowers grown in local soil at Feast & Flora and foraged greens, we listened to her stories. Bearing witness to a beautiful, strong woman, living her life and honoring her heritage as a descendant of slaves. Through listening, understanding and facing the dark reality that is our history and our present, we believe we can create a different future."
"We saw this as an opportunity to highlight the Gullah Geechee community, with the hope of challenging people to think of Charleston not just as a place of iconic landmarks frequented by tourists but also as a place whose farms, homes and plantations were born on the backs of enslaved people- people whose descendants live here and to whom we owe a debt we will never repay."
Photographer Philip Casey captured this beautiful tribute on film.
