CHELSEA CHEER: What’s the greenest — and possibly the greatest — show on Earth?
The gardening set would argue it’s the Chelsea Flower Show, which runs until Saturday on the vast, verdant grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. And while flowers, plants, trees and creative gardens all take center stage, fashion, luxury and fabrics companies are happy to play supporting role.
Sanderson, the British interiors firm with a Royal Warrant that stretches back more than a century, is showcasing the additions to its Highgrove x Sanderson collection of fabrics, rugs and textile patterns inspired by King Charles’ private home and gardens in Gloucestershire, England.
New patterns on display include The King’s Rose design, inspired by the distinctive fuchsia and white striped flower that David Austin Roses created for the monarch last year. David Austin is the same grower who made a rose for Sir David Beckham’s birthday this year, at the request of Harper Beckham.
Sanderson has blended King Charles’ rose with one of its own designs from the early 1900s featuring branches and butterflies.
Outside the Highgrove stand at Chelsea Flower Show. The umbrella features The King’s Rose design by Sanderson.
Other new Highgrove-inspired creations include The Stumpery, Rose Pergola, and Tetbury Stripe, which will be newly available as outdoor fabric. Sanderson said Tetbury Stripe has been recolored, scanned and digitally printed to preserve the look of the original weave.
Earlier in the week, the king toured Sanderson’s new studios at Voysey House in west London, and saw the new rose design — and other Highgrove-inspired patterns — himself. Lisa Montague, chief executive officer of Sanderson, said the group’s creative teams sat in the Highgrove gardens and hand-painted what they saw. They later fused their paintings with designs from the Sanderson archive.
Montague said the Highgrove gardens are not only beautiful, they are also distinctive due to the king’s “architectural eye,” and long-term vision. “The gardens are designed like the rooms of a house, and he is thinking about what they’ll look like in 10 years’ time,” she said.
Fashion brands also had a part to play in the show.
Mother cofounders Lela Becker and Tim Kaeding hosted a lunch earlier in the week — and hunted for inspiration. “We’d never even heard of the Chelsea Flower Show until last year — but if someone tells us to go [and explore], we’ll do it,” Kaeding said.
Becker got right into the spirit, donning one of the hippie flower crowns that were being woven for guests, and spent her day dodging raindrops, and walking the outdoor show.
Inside Veronica Beard, which took part in Chelsea in Bloom.
The show gets the whole neighborhood around Sloane Square fired up, too. Many brands were taking part in the annual Chelsea in Bloom festival, festooning their stores with floral arrangements on the inside and outside.
Veronica Beard, which has a store near Sloane Square, worked with the New York-based Popup Florist on an installation inspired by Chelsea in Bloom’s “Out of This World” theme. The installation blurred the line between fashion and flora, and had a futuristic — and earthy — feel.
“Together we dreamed up this extraterrestrial landscape,” said Kelsie Hayes, founder of Popup Florist. “The result is a surreal botanical world where fantasy meets the unmistakable sophistication of Veronica Beard.”
