Jeff Leatham: Hollywood and Bollywood’s go-to floral designer talks weddings and events

Gulf News

Read the full story here:   See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km

Transcript

00:00Hey everybody, I am Jeff Latham.

00:07So that is who I am, but most of you know me as The Flower God.

00:12And I am here to dish some flower tea with you.

00:17And you are allowed to ask me any question you like.

00:20Right.

00:21And I will answer as honest as I can.

00:23That's perfect.

00:24This is Dubai and the truth matters.

00:26I love the flower installation there.

00:28It's almost like poetry in motion.

00:30How did you decide on these colors?

00:33Why different shades of pink, red?

00:37So it's shades of orange, hot pink, purples.

00:40I love flowers that have bright colors and passion.

00:45I haven't visited Dubai in quite some time.

00:49But the first night I arrived here, I kind of drove around and I felt like on the street

00:54there's so much color inside of people's personalities in the life.

00:58And I feel like the city has a lot of beige and tans and we need more color in the city.

01:03Right.

01:04I think that people need to be more daring with color.

01:07I want people to walk into this hotel, this beautiful Four Seasons Hotel and think like

01:11excitement and wow, this is amazing.

01:14So I really always want to create something that makes people stop and go wow and want

01:20to look to see what else is happening.

01:22Brilliant.

01:23Jeff, these days AI has threatened our jobs.

01:26When it comes to a florist, do you guys think you're insulated from AI?

01:30I think AI is important to let people dream, but I feel like AI, we have to be careful

01:38with it.

01:39I just had this conversation with a friend yesterday.

01:42Some people that have events, they're bringing photographs of AI of like this ceremony and

01:46this and it's just impossible to create that.

01:49The photo looks amazing.

01:52And so you really have to be careful.

01:53I'm kind of an old school guy.

01:55I'm an old Hollywood type of guy.

01:57I'm most importantly realistic on what I can create and the experience that I can give

02:03someone.

02:04So I think people have to be realistic with the experience and AI, the experience is fake.

02:10As beautiful as it is, we don't be faking all that.

02:13Right.

02:14We need it for our future for certain things, but for design and art, I don't think there's

02:19room for it.

02:20Right.

02:21It could be perfect.

02:22Seriously.

02:23And do you think flowers are still...

02:25You know, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Monet with AI.

02:29I mean, come on, are you guys serious?

02:31And I miss the days when there were no cell phones.

02:36How cute was it when you used to date someone, meet someone out?

02:39Yeah.

02:40You can't ghost anybody.

02:41Play a game on like a matchbook or be like, Hey, I don't know.

02:43It's just like, I love the future and I feel like Dubai is the future.

02:47But I also miss the past.

02:49There's a certain romanticism about the past that I miss.

02:53Do all the stars love you equally?

02:55I know he's worked with the Ambani's, he's worked with Kim K, he's worked with Paris

02:59Hilton, Oprah.

03:00Is there anybody you haven't...

03:02Who has been one star that you're dying to work with, but just hasn't happened yet?

03:08To be perfectly honest, one star that I'm dying to work with, but I haven't yet.

03:14Someone that I probably...

03:15I love...

03:16I know we spoke before.

03:17I love Meryl Streep.

03:19Yes.

03:20A star that I would have liked to have been close with who has passed would probably be

03:24Elizabeth Taylor.

03:26I would have loved to be her go-to florist because she had such a sensibility for luxury,

03:33such a sensibility for beauty and helping people.

03:38Because I'm a true believer, and we spoke before about Starcow.

03:41I feel like people need to help people more now.

03:44These days we're so caught up in fast fashion and fast fame that the idea of being famous

03:52and being a celebrity in the past was to be about helping people, and you would give back.

03:57I feel like people need to do that more.

04:00Elizabeth Taylor would be my dream if I would, but my phone is full of amazing people.

04:06I mean, should we call Cher right now?

04:08Oh my God.

04:10And Manish Malhotra is just coming in as well.

04:13He's designed his outfit.

04:14What's the deal?

04:15Are you in a Bollywood movie soon?

04:16What's the deal?

04:17I mean, I would love to be.

04:18What's the tea here?

04:19This is Manish's outfit.

04:20I truly believe this man, the reason why I love him is because he reminds me of myself.

04:25He loves his art, but he also has a kind heart.

04:28You need to tell me, was there a tough celebrity that you thought you had to convince them?

04:32Not a tough one.

04:33They all have strong likes and dislikes.

04:35I would hate roses on my wedding.

04:37I've never had to convince one of my celebrity clientele because they come to me out of trust

04:44and as most importantly as a friend.

04:46Oh, I see.

04:47I see.

04:48And brilliant.

04:49And what's next for you?

04:51What is next for me is the holidays soon.

04:54And Christmas is my favorite time of the year because I do not use flowers.

04:58I'm able to be a creative with my holiday decoration and with what I created in New

05:05York and Philadelphia and Beverly Hills.

05:09And I'm mostly in Paris.

05:11I'm so lucky to have an office in Paris.

05:15And just excited for whatever my next project is.

05:18I'm one of those artists that just like my worst nightmare is repetition.

05:23So I'm always having to re-embed this.

05:26I'm like the Mel Madonna in that way.

05:28In my industry, I don't look at social media like what other people are doing because you

05:34get caught up in that world of like, what should I be doing, not what I have to do in

05:39the future.

05:40Right.

05:41So I have to look to my future because not only for me, but for my staff.

05:44And we have a big responsibility because we have helped change the way people look at

05:48flowers in the world.

05:50And we have to continue that.

05:51There are many people who have now discarded flowers.

05:53They said, get me books, get me an iPad instead.

05:57What do you have to say to people who don't think flowers are the currency and move on?

06:01Buy me a book.

06:02I don't want flowers.

06:04I'll take the book.

06:05Okay, I'll take the book.

06:06Give me the flowers.

06:07Yeah, yeah, you do.

06:08Other people give you flowers.

06:09You want to give flowers because what flowers do is it creates an immediate memory in your

06:16senses.

06:17If someone sends you, even if it's a flower you don't like, the color is an automatic

06:22register into your system.

06:24They were pink, they were yellow, they were red, they were white.

06:27You remember it.

06:28You remember the day.

06:29You remember what they were for.

06:30Books can do that.

06:31So if you want to create a memory, give flowers.

06:33Brilliant.

06:34On that note, thank you for giving me such a great memory.

06:37Excellent.

06:38Ciao.

06:39Thank you so much.

06:40Such a pleasure.

Category

Transcript

Recommended