Bal Harbour

116 BAL HARBOUR ISA ISA FLORAL The terms "local" and "seasonal" are mainstays for describing what's hot in the food world today, but Sophia Moreno-Bunge is making sure that they're buzz words in the floral industry, too As the founder of Los Angeles design studio Isa Isa Floral, Moreno-Bunge, , has a fervent following for using locally sourced and inseason flowers, fruits, tree branches and grassessome of which are foragedin her unusual creations Theyre wild, effervescent and playful, all at the same time ccording to orenounge, most flower marets in the nited tates sell blossoms and plants that are imported from Holland, Japan, New Zealand and other farflung locales Theyre so common that its hard to avoid using them, she says y view as a florist is that dont have to go far to source beautiful flowers and materials for my wor when there are so many close to home Moreno-Bunge admits that living in Southern California gives her an advantage for this philosophy The region is replete with growers who breed flora and fauna to sell in local marets, in the same vein as farmers offering their produce Poppies rank among her favorites, but the designer also regularly relies on passion flowers, and anunculaceae, which are similar to buttercups but larger and grow in a variety of hues including red and purple nd going beyond flowers, as is usually the case in her arrangements, orenounge is also drawn to dates, which grow on stems in large clusters, raintree pods and the tops of oat plants hile she regularly hits flower marets, orenounge shares that, time permitting, she enjoys spending her weekends foraging for materials in the alibu hills There is something very satisfying about going straight to nature and finding what want to use right where its growing, she says The florists avantgarde aesthetic has helped her amass a diverse range of clients, including hotels such as the stylish Proper in Santa Monica, retailers such as the Goop store in Brentwood and in-demand interior designers like Kelly earstler, who often features orenounges arrangements in photos shoots ven though she started her business ust five years ago, orenounge is already considered a heavyweight in the field The onetime art history and visual arts student at arnard ollege in ew or wored with sculptorturnedflorist mily Thompson before launching off on her own grew up in os ngeles and spent a lot of time outside around plants and flowers, she says ltimately, using what grows in my own bacyard in designs is what was meant to do Sophia Moreno-Bunge surrounded by uicy winter florals, palm inflorescence and orchids aove, an arrangement that includes water lilies and wild lupine n arrangement— romelias, ady lipper orchids, nerine and heart- shaped caladium leaves leftover from a iami wedding "because I hate throwing away flowers, says syulsyi Photos by Tierney Gearon ortrait y illian itchell enya Tsybulsyi, , had no intention of becoming a florist while he was growing up in dessa, raine n fact, the founder of the ew or itybased Jenya Flowers went to school for oceanology and fully intended on pursuing a career where he could indulge his childhood love of water ard pressed to find a ob postgraduation, however, Tsybulsyi needed an alternativea foray into the world of florals turned out to be it thin of myself as the accidental florist, he says The now highprofile designer got his first taste of the industry during a temporary ob at the downtown dessa furniturecumflower shop tis af, which he landed with the help of a friend The shop had a rench sensibility and was very sophisticated in its presentation, which was out of the box for dessa at the time, says Tsybulsyi hen was there, learned about various types of flowers and how to arrange them is shortterm gig turned into a fulltime ob ventually, he was promoted to head florist and catered to a demanding clientele, creating arrangements for homes, hotels, weddings and other events fter not really liing the wor in the beginning, became more and more immersed The more did, the more wanted to eep doing, he says Tsybulsyis move to the nited tates was inspired by the renowned anhattan florist riella hear, who traveled to dessa to train tiss staff The two developed a rapport, and he spent two months in New York collaborating with her to design arrangements for several events Three years later, in , Tsybulsyi made the city his permanent home He has since built a reputation with his striking style, which combines materials in unusual ways—orchids presented with grass that he picked on the side of a road, for eample, or spiderlie purple passion flowers interspersed with bare branches By his account, one of his most memorable creations from last year was a presentation of dandelions post-bloom—once they had formed into transparent white puffsdisplayed with wheat grass eed pods and whole fruits also figure into his repertoire lie contrasts and the unepected in my wor because thin they give the end results a mysterious quality, says Tsybulsyi The florists impressive roster of clients includes fashion brands such as alph auren and hristian ouboutin, and celebrities ic onas and riyana hopra, who tapped Tsybulsyi for their wedding didnt epect to end up where am, he says, but now, cant imagine being anything ecept a florist JENYA FLOWERS

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