Petal pushers

Adam Brand is helping to run his family’s business, an old-world fabric flower factory that’s been creating handmade artificial blooms in New York’s garment district for more than a century, and has a clientele of style-savvy devotees from major fashion houses to the Hollywood A-list

Clouds of pastel-hued wisteria festoon doorways of Regency townhouses, bundles of blooms drip from ballroom ceilings and riots of peonies smother ornate mantelpieces. Neat bouquets containing yellow roses, bold orchids and tulips are gifted as part of courtships and starry-eyed lovers meander arm-in-arm past crowds of swaying delphiniums. Do you recognise these scenes? If you’re one of the millions of people around the world who have devoured all three seasons of Bridgerton, the Netflix smash hit, then you may have noticed the glossy adaptation of Julia Quinn’s Georgian romance novels is awash with flowers.

The dramatic floral fuss of the sets is conjured by the show’s in-house florist Phillip Corps. But zoom in a little closer and you’ll see it extends to the costumes too – each handmade for the show with scene-stealing attention to detail. Delicate fabric petals flutter on corseted bodices, floral motifs adorn swishy satin gowns and blown-out blooms made from silk and organza are worn as headpieces and corsages. These faux flowers stand out like sugary confections amid a froth of ribbons, ruffles and gossipy whispers, but they also have a story of their own.

The flower factory

Hundreds of the blooms on screen came from M&S Schmalberg. This fourth-generation family business has been making and selling custom fabric flowers in New York’s garment district since 1916. In that time, the company has weathered two world wars, the Great Depression, two major financial crashes and a global pandemic. In the 1940s, they were among hundreds of so-called flower guys in a Midtown neighbourhood bustling with textile manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers. But numbers dwindled over the years and today they’re the last ones in operation, still thriving after 109 years.