Flowers have always been Atlanta’s love language. Starting today, a global floral art show is making that relationship official — one couture mannequin at a time.
Fleurs de Villes FLORA arrives at Phipps Plaza on April 29, bringing five days of free, public floral exhibitions to Buckhead through May 3. The show features the brand’s signature fresh-floral mannequins, each an original, couture-inspired creation crafted from blooms by Atlanta-based floral designers.
Fourteen local designers are taking part, including Botanica Floral, Ebonee Benson Designs, Gresham’s Florist of Atlanta, La Fleur Chick, Lena E’liz, LUA Floral, Megan Corbat Design, Parker’s Petals, Rose Jasmine, Studio Orange Moon, The Social Pedigree, Summer Breeze Flowers & Gifts, Terry Furuta Designs and The Design Haus.
This is Fleurs de Villes’ third year partnering with Phipps Plaza, following last year’s Atlanta run of Fleurs de Villes Downton Abbey. The FLORA edition marks a deliberate creative shift.
“With FLORA, we are thrilled to introduce a bold new chapter for Fleurs de Villes, one that celebrates spring through the artistry of couture-inspired floral design,” said Karen Marshall, co-founder of Fleurs de Villes. “By putting Atlanta’s floral designers center stage, FLORA celebrates their creativity and craftsmanship, inviting visitors to experience flowers not just as décor, but as fashion, art, and storytelling in bloom.”
From strict themes to a blank canvas
In past years, Fleurs de Villes gave participating florists a specific creative prompt. This year, Marshall said, the show handed creative conception to the artists.
“We said forget that,” Marshall said. “We want you as artists to even go further and design the best dress that you can think of in flowers. You know the materials, you have different styles, you know how they work. So we’ve asked the florists, instead of copying, to create from the beginning … to be very much the couturiers in this instance.”
Participating florists applied through Fleurs de Villes’ portal. From there, finalists were asked to walk organizers through the mechanics of their designs, including how they plan to keep flowers fresh for five days.
“This is not just up, like a wedding, [for] a few hours,” Marshall said. “These flowers have to last. They cannot die in two hours. So the mechanics of what we present have to be absolutely sound.”
Florists commit to the full run of the exhibition, returning every two days or more to refresh their installations. Some designers work solo. Others bring a team. Many do detailed work with dried materials off-site, then arrive on setup day to add fresh elements in front of a live audience.
Why Atlanta?
Phipps Plaza is Fleurs de Villes FLORA’s fourth stop on its 2026 tour. Marshall said Atlanta was a natural fit.
“Atlanta is very sophisticated,” Marshall said. “You’re known for this beautiful canopy of green. But you’re also known as a world-class city [with] a global outlook. So we sort of merged that history, art, culture, and storytelling narrative with flowers. We can only do that in select cities around the world where that’s really a part of the makeup of the city.”
She also pointed to Atlanta’s cultural distinctiveness as shaping the floral work itself. “You’ve got a different history that I think informs people differently … the types of flowers that are used, the way that the design is done,” Marshall said. “We find around the world that every city has different, unique design techniques, and different local flowers also. Being in the South, there are a lot of trees that tend to be used. We’ve seen lots of magnolias, for example, in past shows here.”
Florists as artists, not suppliers
For Marshall, FLORA is part of a larger mission.
It gives florists the opportunity to showcase and stretch their skills in ways their everyday lives might not.
“Florists are artists at the heart of everything,” Marshall said. “They are artists, but their business treats them like a supplier. So we give them a challenge. We give them a platform, literally, a blank canvas, which is a mannequin, and we ask them to be creative. And so I think more than anything, they do it because they want to express themselves. They want to be the true artists that they are.”
Marshall said florists often describe the experience as one of the best team-building exercises they’ve done. The show also includes a judged competition with honors awarded in different categories, alongside a fan-favorite vote open to the public throughout the five days. The winner takes home a two-night stay at Nobu Hotel Atlanta, a $250 Phipps Plaza gift card, and a $1,000 gift certificate for the Porsche Experience Center.
“We’re on a mission globally to ensure that floristry is raised as an art form and that florists are seen as artists and not just suppliers,” Marshall said.
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What to see and do at Phipps Plaza
Saturday, May 2 brings floral demonstrations and a pop-up flower market featuring fresh blooms from featured local florists. Visitors can also see a floral-adorned Porsche on display and a floral entrance installation at The House of Creed. That evening, Phipps Plaza hosts its annual Kentucky Derby viewing party on The Green. Nobu Hotel Atlanta is a show partner this year, with two floral mannequins, one at the main exhibition in Phipps Plaza and one in the hotel lobby.
Fleurs de Villes FLORA is free and open to the public. Phipps Plaza is located at 3500 Peachtree Road NE in Buckhead.
