13 Black Floral Designers You Need to Know
Breigh Jones-Coplin launched her floral design company, Black + Blossomed, in September 2020. As a mental health professional and clinical psychology doctoral student, Breigh was experiencing burnout and depression in the midst of the pandemic. “It was extremely hard having to hold space for others as a therapist during a time when I couldn’t even hold space for myself. Flowers ended up being my safe space,” she says.
Breigh plans to open a retail space in October, while also creating at the intersection of flowers and mental health. “I am working with various organizations to provide curriculum, trainings, and retreat experiences that emphasize floral-based healing,” she explains. “I am passionate about the overlap of mental health and flowers, and engaging the Black community in more hands-on, cultural ways of healing the body.”
Oat Cinnamon Studio – Brooklyn
Ryan Norville started Oat Cinnamon Studio in 2018 after the pressures of working in web design for luxury beauty and fashion offices became overwhelming. “I never quite felt that I was meant to deal with the bureaucracy of intense corporate environments and how much it killed true creativity,” she says. She recently collaborated with West Elm on a project that allowed her to work on both interior design and floral design, and she plans to begin hosting workshops in her brand-new Brooklyn studio.
Wildfleur Blooms – Irvine, California
Paper florist and artist Ama Ramos Pipim launched Wildfleur Blooms in 2019. With a focus on sustainability, she creates botanical paper structures and trendy dried arrangements. “I decided to concentrate on botanical realism, creating paper flowers that are more lifelike, but with cardstock,” she explains. “There are different mediums of paper that we use to make flowers, and I was able to create my own techniques. I also mastered adding shape and color to the flowers to give them a more lifelike appearance.” Ama recently created florals for a Netflix event, and plans to launch workshops soon to teach others how to craft their own paper bouquets.
Kateen’s Floral Designs – Fort Wayne, Indiana
Kateen Morris started Kateen’s Floral Designs in 2019. After growing up helping her mother with floral, fruit, and vegetable gardening, Kateen believes in the power of florals to spark emotion. “When someone’s presented with a beautiful flower, it just brings so much emotion out of the person receiving, and the person giving.” Kateen is the chairwoman of Black Girl Florists, a collaborative community of Black women in the floral space whose purpose is to support, promote, and celebrate the creativity and contributions of Black florists. Black Girl Florists held its first annual conference in March.
Mahaba Floristry – Greenville, South Carolina
Nikeema Lee, a third-generation florist, started Mahaba Floristry in February 2020. “Mahaba means ‘overflowing with love’ in Swahili,” she says. “My intention is to send love in every bloom so that when someone receives my arrangements, they can feel [it].” She is proudly continuing the legacy of her grandmother, who opened a floristry in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1982. Although her grandmother passed away in 2015, her enduring love for flowers is a gift that lives on through Nikeema, who also serves as Black Girl Florist’s regional director of South Carolina.
Designs by Asia Natasha – Nashville
Licensed architect Asia Dixon Allen launched Designs by Asia Natasha in fall 2021 after completing a 10-week course through Nashville Flower Market’s School of Floral Design. “I [initially] started creating arrangements at home for fun. It was a hobby for a while until I decided I wanted formal hands-on training,” she recalls. “I am currently working on continuing to learn by freelancing with some other amazing florists in Nashville!”
M. Dawn Floral – Detroit
