ON ROSES,

Our first issue to you is centred around the humble english rose and all that it brings.

When the summer rolls around, its certainly not a quiet or discrete happening. It’s long anticipated, desperate and frustrated. Its begging for beer garden weather on bank holidays, and its braving shorts a bit too soon. It’s staying out past dusk with the mosquitos, but being ok with the bites because it might just be the only opportunity you get this week.

And then it all settles. We breath and acclimatise. This infatuation with the warmer months makes it hard not to feel that maybe we are equally responsible as they are, for all the joy that they bring. Our eagerness to savour every second somehow makes those long summer months more sacred.

This change in season got us thinking of our hero flower of the summer, the English Rose. With its timeless beauty, the rose acts as a source of inspiration for so many of us, all drawing from it’s effortless charm, delicate shapes and unmatchable scent.

The rose has always, and will continue to be our muse.

Roses chase the sun in the studio - by @weareflwr

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ROSES ON THE STREET

We walk past this rose bush on the corner of Rochelle Street everyday making our way to the studio. Collectively, we have so many photos of her, from all different angles. She’s definitely not camera shy.

Wrapping her thorny branches over the railings, reaching for the light. She wants to stretch, breathe, to take up space. And you can’t blame her, we often feel this way too.

We admire her resilience, staying delicate but strong and beautiful in all ways possible. Even through the rot she holds freshness, wilting petals nestled next to rosebuds. Her offerings to the pavement are equally poetic, decorating our concrete with her age-old beauty.

Dusty Pink Roses - Rochelle Street, London

There is something powerful about the respect a rose bush like Rochelle’s holds. Her position comes with risk, her branches at a distance both grab-able and snap-able, yet somehow there is a universal respect from the hundreds maybe thousands that pass her by each day. She continues to stay strong and to bloom for us all.

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WORDS ON ROSES

" Am I a Rose?

While roses thrive in the light and withstand the heat

and the frost

Beat the harsh summers and winters, their beauty never exhausts

But to question if you are the rose

You already believe it not to be true

And I don't need to ask who

And I don't need to ask you

You will love me for the bloom

And even so the prick

You will give me to others

For when they are sad or when they are sick

Because I am the rose

I answer my own curiosity with my own prose

I'll bloom and whither to fruit

Come hither

And endure and persevere winter after winter"

Hot Tears Through Velvet Rage - Written By Adriann Ramirez

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ROSES IN FILM

Roses often show their delicate faces in cinema, from American Beauty’s iconic poster, to acting as props in rom com’s like 10 Things I Hate About You (a firm fave). Whether their presence is dominating, or featured more softly, they are always beautifully captured on the big screen. So in our first thoughts of roses in film, our minds immediately ran to The Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson.

Here at FLWR, we all have a real soft spot for Wes Anderson and his trademark aesthetic. The nostalgic, holiday postcard feel and whimsicalness of his work continues to fill us with colour inspiration for our own work. Warm and charming.

We love this still, capturing a single pink rose in the iconic hotel reception of The Grand Budapest Hotel.

For us, watching one of Wes's films feels like sipping tea from an old china cup at your grandma’s house and snacking on sweet, crumbly biscuits.

The Grand Budapest Hotel - Wes Anderson

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A ROSE IS A ROSE

So here's our ode to the English Rose. Loved by the bees and by us.

Thank you for being here and reading our very first journal entry! We're so excited to start sharing our thoughts, feelings and sources of inspiration with you.

Stay tuned for more of our FLWR musings…