Meet the florist: Kowsh Rawson
January 2023
Welcome to Typofora’s very first journal! Inspired by the wonderful florists I interviewed when creating Typoflora’s 2023 Planner, this monthly journal will feature a talented florist and their work. To kick off the year, we’re looking at Kowsh Rawson of Kiko Design who provided inspiration for Typoflora Planner’s January flower, the hydrangea.
I love Kowsh’s abundant use of colour and her ability to create a floral wonderland. Her work offers surprises, too, with beautiful colour combinations of bold colours and the use of fun elements, such as lemons and grapes, for example and houseplant leaves, such as Anthurium clarinervium. Some of these fabulous combinations make me think of a summer holiday in the Mediterranean!
Having grown up in a creative household, Kowsh has always been drawn to art and design. When her obsession with flowers became all-consuming, she traded her role in marketing to work with some of Sydney’s best-known florists, gaining invaluable experience through those years. Then, in 2017 Kowsh and her Husband Josh decided to launch Kiko Design.
Kowsh’s studio is located in Roseberry, NSW. It is now one of Sydney’s leading floral studios and also home to the lifestyle candle brand Alokaia, which features hand-poured candles in dynamic structural forms.
Kowsh creates inspiring floral styling for events and weddings in Australia and across globe. In 2022, she did one of my favourite arrangements, an extraordinary design of white hydrangeas and roses nestled around a platform which had the spectacular backdrop of Lake Como, Italy. Even when using shades of white in arrangement, Kowsh is able to build a glorious palette of layered textures.
Here’s what Kowsh had to say when interviewed in 2022.
1. Which flower inspires you the most and why?
Every year, I get giddy when I see hydrangeas trickling into the Sydney flower market. They are one of the few flower varieties that you’ll find peppered around our home and garden. A truly unique and abundant flower, each head is constructed of hundreds of tiny little flowers which you can deconstruct and press or add as embellishments. Hydrangeas start flowering in early summer and continue through until autumn, during this time it is not unusual for a single hydrangea shrub to produce various colours of flowers, this process occurs if the PH level of the soil wavers through the months, acidic soil tends to throw blue shades whilst alkaline soil will lend themselves to pinker tones, it’s such a fascinating feature of an already impressive flower.
2. Can you share any fun facts about hydrangeas?
Hydrangeas absorb water from their faces as well as their gorgeous big leaves, therefore if your flowers are looking a little wilted, you can simply draw them a small bath – in the kitchen sink or in a bucket and submerge the flower heads for up to 40 minutes. Once they have had a good soak, pull them out, re-cut the stems and pop them back into a vase filled with clean water and you may just be lucky enough to get another week out of them!
3. Do you have any tips when styling hydrangeas?
En masse in a single vessel – nothing more, nothing less.
4. Any favourite combo you love to do when styling with hydrangeas?
An arrangement of hydrangeas with copper beech foliage is a go to, it has beautiful form.
You can find Kowsh’s website here and follow her on insta here.
Shannon x
All images credit @kikodesign
SHOP THE HYDRANGEA COLLECTION
