A Blossoming Beauty Business

Fleurs de Villes founders, Tina Barkley and Karen Marshall, saw an opportunity to combine their passions of flowers, fashion and design into an international brand

- Angela Rotundo

Imagine original dresses made entirely of fresh blooms. These days, anything is possible. Don’t miss the chance to witness floral fantasies become high fashion. The third annual Floral Mannequin Series, brought to you by Fleurs de Villes Inc., will be on display at Vaughan Mills from April 19–23. An experience like no other, this award-winning event brings both floral and fashion enthusiasts together. City Life caught up with Tina Barkley (TB) and Karen Marshall (KM) to discuss how some of the top local Toronto florists and leading brands will bring their couture creations to life and much more.

Tell us how the idea first came about for Fleurs de Villes.

KM: As lovers of great content and beautiful things, we both came to a point in our careers where we saw an opportunity to build something that connected the two — through flowers. Tina had been passionate about creating flower market pop-ups, and I, as a lover and keen observer of the partnership aspect of the Chelsea Flower Show, always wondered how we could do a smaller, more bespoke version here. Those ideas and brainstorms quickly led to us realizing we could combine flowers, markets, fashion, design, partnerships and more to create not only an experience like none other, but also an international brand.

What do you love about your exhibits? What is the reaction that people have when they encounter these installations?