Stockholm-based artist Brandy Kraft created floral imagery for Marc Jacobs’ spring/summer ’24 collection and the result is a Met Gala-worthy fully-bloomed fantasy
Were your eyes drawn to the graphic floral number worn by Matthew McFadyen's wife Keeley Hawes on the Met Gala red carpet? The blossoming pattern is the work of Stockholm-based multidisciplinary artist Brandy Kraft, whose utopian hybrid flowers exude enchanting allure, inviting viewers into a whimsical world of escapism. Not only does her work captivate with its spellbinding nature, it also serves as a poignant reminder of the beauty inherent in our environment, prompting us to reflect on the importance of preserving it.
Kraft’s fantastical flora hasn’t gone unnoticed, with Marc Jacobs as the latest brand to reach out for a collaboration. In 2022, Louis Vuitton commissioned Kraft to paint blooms on its Parisian store’s windows and her hybrid blossom photographs have also been featured in Vogue Italia. The latter was how a designer at Marc Jacobs stumbled across Kraft’s creations and instantly became enamoured with them.
“I’m so happy,” Kraft tells me from her home in Nacka. “I’m really grateful. I remember I received the email [from Marc Jacobs] really late on a Friday – it was like 10 or 11 at night, because they’re earlier in New York – and I was like, ‘What!?’” She makes a flabbergasted expression. In that fateful email, the brand asked if Kraft would be interested in creating flower imagery for a print to be used in Marc Jacobs' spring/summer ’24 ready-to-wear collection, giving the artist just two weeks to complete the assignment. But Kraft’s bespoke flowers wouldn't just adorn garments and accessories; they would also be crafted into giant, Alice in Wonderland-esque 3D sculptures to decorate Marc Jacobs stores worldwide from May to August.
Photo: Marc Jacobs
Photo: Marc Jacobs
Photo: Marc Jacobs
Working with Marc Jacobs’ head of ready-to-wear, Kraft describes the design process as “very close, with a lot of back and forth about the direction of it”. “I never do any sketches when I create flowers,” she explains. “When people order commissions from me, I ask them to give me some colours and I go from there.” Marc Jacobs provided Kraft with swatches of the hues featured in its SS24 collection, and by using real flower parts sourced from markets and local shops, Kraft meticulously assembled dainty hybrid flower sculptures “with a bit of glue and a bit of magic”. After Kraft conceived a few options and photographed them, Marc Jacobs chose the one that worked the best: a bright fuchsia, exotic blossom Kraft coined ‘Hibitrophum didymum’.
Kraft's flowers were also turned into giant 3D sculptures, adorning Marc Jacobs stores across the globe. Photo: Marc Jacobs
“I think it’s the use of colour and the edginess and grit the brand has to it – I feel like my flowers kind of have that too,” Kraft says when discussing how her aesthetic aligns with Marc Jacobs’. “They [my flowers] are delicate, but they feel a little dangerous. You don’t know if they’re going to poison you if you touch them – there’s this little edginess to them, which I feel resonates with the brand.”
In the SS24 line-up, we see Kraft’s vibrant flora juxtaposed with a solid black background on oversized button-up T-shirts and romantic puff-sleeve frocks – as donned by Hawes for the red carpet – alongside tailored skirts and bubble-hemmed dresses. Elsewhere, Kraft’s lush blooms appear on statement jewellery and emblazoned on white leather handbags, perfect for that hit of dopamine for any look. Florals for spring can, indeed, be groundbreaking. “I was so happy to see the results,” Kraft beams. “I saw a sneak peak of someone wearing the shirt and interviewing people like Sofia Coppola and Debbie Harry and I was like ‘Oh my god, my flowers are right there!’”