How We Bloom

'Flowers take the Runway,' New York Fashion Week w/ Julia Rose

• Sharon McGukin

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How we Bloom podcast is an oasis of flower ideas. Hosts Sharon McGukin and Smithers-Oasis North America interview floral guests who dare to do things differently. We listen, learn, explore new opportunities and that's how we bloom!

Julia Rose:

I created floral couture purely for my own joy. People just connected with it. And you see how much they love it now because it comes from that place of passion within me. I always say create for you, because your people will find you. Like, your weirdos. The ones that love what you love, they will find you. And they will love what you do.

Sharon McGukin:

Welcome to How We Bloom, an oasis of flower ideas. I'm your host, Sharon McGukin, AIFD, AAF, PFCI, and I believe that every great success story starts with one simple idea. That's why we interview those who dare to do things differently. Inspiring people who plant seeds, grow ideas, and bloom to their full potential. In this podcast, we listen, learn, explore new opportunities, and that's How we Bloom. Julia Rose of Newcastle, Australia, had a dream. With hope, hard work, outrageous creativity, and the backing of floral industry sponsors like Smithers Oasis, Julia's floral dream came true. She watched in awe as her inspired floral couture collection paced the red carpet on Runway 7 during New York Fashion Week. Amazing. From Times Square to the Fashion Runway, this Princess of Petals highlighted the natural beauty of stunning models draped in garments of gorgeous flowers. Each breathtaking design as unforgettable as it was unexpected. Original. Organic. Exquisite. Extravagant. Julia's living, fragrant, wearable art beautifully expressed our on-trend love of fresh flowers in high fashion. Julia is joining us today from Australia to share her secrets of success. Welcome, Julia. Hi. I think they all fit with our different time zones.

Julia Rose:

I That's good, I have no idea. It's evening It's evening over there, isn't it at the moment?

Sharon McGukin:

here,

Julia Rose:

Yeah.

Sharon McGukin:

appreciate you sharing your time with us. We're really excited to hear your story of what led you to Fashion Week in New York City.

Julia Rose:

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here and I can't wait to share. I love like sharing my creativity and thinking that it might inspire someone else to be creative. Oh, I just love talking about creativity, right? It's, it's fun. Okay,

Sharon McGukin:

of getting to use your creativity. Let me ask you, how did you begin in flowers?

Julia Rose:

We'll start from the beginning, but I'll keep it brief. So essentially when I was young, I did a traineeship in, And then I did an apprenticeship. I did actually have a car accident when I was young. So, had to leave school. And then I had to get a job. And so my grandmother loved flowers. I grew up with, she Hydrangeas and roses. And we used to play in the cavernous branches of the hydrangeas. And you know how you take the thorns off the roses and pop them on your nose and pretend you're a rhinoceros, like those So I did love flowers. So I did a training as a florist. And then I continued on, did a junior and apprenticeship. I don't know if you have them over there, but it's where you do your full certification in floristry. And I did this from the age of 16 to 21. And then I actually had a five year gap where I traveled and I did other things. things in the creative field. I did things like I worked in theater. I worked in performance, I designed costumes, I sold art and I did a continuing creative things, not in the floristry field. So, that's where it all sort of started. And then when I came back and everyone said, now that you've finished traveling, you need to grow up and be an adult and get a real job. So I did and I got back into the floristry field. and I worked for a shop and they had five different locations and I did all the wedding events and corporates and I ran all of that sector of that shop. that was the evolution of my, like, floristry life.

Sharon McGukin:

you think all of those other creative endeavors came together with what you do now? It just built your creative spirit in other ways that you can integrate into what you do now. I think that a lot of your travels probably led to your ability to travel for flowers now.

Julia Rose:

Most definitely. Like the work that I did in the theater, and the performance had a huge influence on the costumes and the way that I use flowers. So the next part of the story is I actually, I was working, I was being a real adult, I had a real job, I was earning real money. then I got this, I got this thing, it was called hypersensitivity I became a real life bubble girl. So I was actually locked down into my

Sharon McGukin:

Oh,

Julia Rose:

two and a half years. No, no,

Sharon McGukin:

bless you. Oh.

Julia Rose:

Right? So it's perspective, it's perspective. So initially it was like everything had changed and partner had to leave his job. He was worried I was going to die. Like every other day I had needles and EpiPens and all of that. But what happened? It changed. I was like, I could literally die tomorrow. So what changed? I want to do things that make me happy and what makes me happy is creating. So then I started mixing all of my skills as a florist and in the theatre and arts and I created floral couture. It was not in trend. Everyone laughed at me. Everyone said it was silly. It didn't bother me because I was unwell and it brought me joy. So I created for my own pleasure, own passion because I thought the real adult, the making money, doing all of that, if I'm gonna die tomorrow, it has no of purpose for me at that time. So I created floral couture purely for my own joy. And people connected with it as it went along. Like they, they seen the passion in that. And they connected with it. So I was using my flowers as a medium and that medium was the medium that I worked in theater and arts. So I was using them like materials as opposed to like traditional, but I was using traditional floristry techniques like stitching with the wires. and things like that. So, yeah, that, that's sort of the evolution of the way that I got into Couture. So, even though these things happened that you blessed me for, they were actually a blessing in disguise.

Sharon McGukin:

And don't you think when you work from your spirit, people are naturally drawn to it. They're drawn to the joy, the creativity, they're just drawn to people who are working from within their own spirit.

Julia Rose:

Oh, they are. They are so much. People can. It sounds cliche, they say people can see passion, but they can. They feel it. Why are you doing it? You're not following the fashions, because it brought me joy, I continued to do it. And people just connected with it. And you see how much they love it now because it comes from that place of passion within me. And when I teach, when I hold my workshops, like the people who come to my workshops, I say to them, like a lot of you on the floor will know much more than me. You'll be far advanced in many different areas than me, but I'm not here for that. I'm here to just inspire the creativity and passion in you. Because they do connect with it. I always say create for you, because your people will find you. Like, your weirdos. The ones that love what you love, they will find you. And they will love what you do. It will inspire them. So they can definitely see it and feel it.

Sharon McGukin:

I agree that with each opportunity, we're making opportunities for other people. We are just the stepping stones that help each other to grow our belief in our industry, I think.

Julia Rose:

Most definitely.. It sounds like something I would say. I always say it in my workshops. I say you don't want to replicate. So when we do our workshops we all have the same ingredients but we don't end up with the same pieces. like, you

sharon--_1_12-10-2024_182624:

Huh.

Julia Rose:

what I do. You don't want to be me. You need to do what you do and let it fall out of you naturally. And then if it falls out of you naturally, then you can never do it wrong. Because you are. Do you know? Yeah. Yes.

Sharon McGukin:

a purpose. That's why the creative spirit was there. Because there's a purpose that needs to be filled.

Julia Rose:

Yes. then as a creative, you know, what we do. That's what we do. Like to express emotion, isn't it? It's our happiness, it's our sadness, it's our joy. The creative is part of our being.

Sharon McGukin:

Yes, I agree. Now, I know that Smithers Oasis was a sponsor for your opportunity and you used products that they provided also. Are there any tips that you could give to our listeners as to if you were going to make fashion couture, what products would you need to use? I'm guessing glue, wire,

Julia Rose:

See, I don't use glue.

Sharon McGukin:

Oh, do you not use glue?

Julia Rose:

Because, as I said before, like I come from that theatre and the arts and all of that, I'm stitching it like you would stitch traditional couture and I also used to teach floristry so part of my little story is. When I first was allowed back into the public, I used to teach floristry at, it's called TAFE in Australia. So it's an educational facility where people get their certifications in floristry. And I used to teach it in the science lab because it was a sterile environment. because I'm classically trained and I know all of the techniques and you would remember, I know you would remember. Some of our listeners might not, but everything was, fully

Sharon McGukin:

Yeah.

Julia Rose:

And I used to love wiring. I'd do the big cascades

sharon--_1_12-10-2024_182624:

And the orchids cascading and yeah,

Julia Rose:

All

Sharon McGukin:

yeah. I love bouquets.

Julia Rose:

and so everything that I create is fully wired. All of are fully wired, so there's no glue. So the things that I use is so I use a lot of flat wire, aluminium wire the binding wire, like just in all different gauges. And I use them just my toolkit is just all wire and a pair of second tiers and some parafilm. I think in America I don't, I haven't quite got what you call it over there

Sharon McGukin:

Floral tape.

Julia Rose:

Floral tape because that is the old form they're bringing in the paper tape now obviously for environmental

Sharon McGukin:

I have seen the product you're talking about.

Julia Rose:

Yeah,

Sharon McGukin:

seen that also.

Julia Rose:

too. Have a lot of the floral tape and a lot of different gauge wires. And then when I'm creating my pieces, the way that I start is with a mannequin. I Pin all of the base layer of the costume onto the mannequin and then I hand sew flowers into the pieces. But I use the wire, do you know the binding wire, as the thread as opposed to cotton.

Sharon McGukin:

When you say the base layer, are you speaking of a floral netting? Are you speaking of actual clothing or fabric? What is your base?

Julia Rose:

It depends on what the costume is. I start with the model, the color, the line of their jaw. I choose them and they are the palette. They are the canvas, right? So I have to make things exactly to match them. If you have a look at my Instagram

Sharon McGukin:

I did today, yeah. Beautiful photos.

Julia Rose:

thank you. And if you look at the, the photos on there just say for instance, there were three gorgeous men that I on the last day of New York fashion week. And when you look at them, they're all different in structure. One has like an angular nose and an angular jaw. He has a. The other has a round hairline and a pink round lip. And then the other one, he's quite tall in stature, very commanding. So I had a base design, which was a material base. I used something, it Like, the Oasis Mesh so that is laid out and then we stitch everything on that to make his cape. So that was his design. So his whole base was made from the floral mesh.

Sharon McGukin:

Yeah. When you use the floral mesh, do you allow it to show, because it's a gorgeous product in itself, or do you cover all of it?

Julia Rose:

It depends on what the design is and

Sharon McGukin:

Style.

Julia Rose:

yeah, the style and everything like that. And then what I do, I create pockets within the floral mesh as well. And I put always tubes, the water tubes. water vials. So then they can be water sourced. It does add a bit of weight, but then when you're building a costume, you make sure that weight is on parts of the model, which like makes it more comfortable. And then the piece is actually lined in faux fur.

Sharon McGukin:

Cool.

Julia Rose:

I the faux fur onto the mesh. Then I put the mesh, I sew the flowers onto the mesh. So that's the outer coat. And then we put all the water vials in between. So they're all hidden. under the faux fur. So

Sharon McGukin:

Very cool.. Huh. Huh. Yes.

Julia Rose:

therefore I gave him pink flowers and I made it the design round in texture to match his actual hairline. That was made on a bird wire. Like one of the meshing it we actually use the gold mesh for that because I wasn't sure if I was going to have it exposed or not. So we use the gold mesh and then we did use a lot of the Design Master to change the colors of the flowers to match the color in his lip. And then the one. He actually was the square man, and you can see again, that is, that I had the mesh, but I chose a stronger form mesh to get the angular shape. So you can see round and fluid, so you can use the gold wire netting, because it's soft and pliable, whereas stronger and more textural, I had to use a hard form wire. get those angles. Like I was imagining, do you know like the, like Kiss, the band. Like those sort of big, like is it Gene Simmons? With the tongue and, you know, the big angles coming out. So that if you go down and look at the photos. Some of the girls have really long like there's one that has It's two big pieces that are coming straight out and you can see, now that I've explained it, the hard wire underneath it that has created that movement in the design.

Sharon McGukin:

Yeah, that's amazing. That long coat, I was wondering how heavy that was. But if you have done it with floral mesh, that lightens it quite a lot.

Julia Rose:

completely. So that was done in a plumosia. And on the top and the shoulders. So then you imagine, you know, when you wear a big fur jacket, you have a big fur collar and the big hoods. Like you can, you can have a downwards pressure and it makes it quite comfortable. You can even have a pressure at the front of your body and the back of your body and it makes it quite comfortable. Then once you start getting pressure down lower, It makes it uncomfortable. So it's sat quite comfortably because of where the pressure of the flowers was in the design.

Sharon McGukin:

think you learned all of that from your costume designing. So, I can see how that plays right in. And the most interesting thing you said is you follow the line of the jaw. And I was trying to think how that mattered. But that leads you to your geometric form, actually. Doesn't it?

Julia Rose:

techniques, start with the model color of the skin, the palate, the line of the jaw, the length of the legs, the width of the chest, even the pinkness in the lips. And then what I'm thinking about is not the reaction then and there, it's in imagery. So then we paint it with light. And then when you paint it with light, which essentially is. What a photo is. You're capturing that in light. If you have like a round jaw, you turn it to the side, you have round replicated in the shoulder pads. You have a nice negative space gap from the line of the neck through to his even his chest muscles are round. So you'll notice without the viewer seeing or knowing what's going on. Why they're loving it. It has all those design techniques in it. Roundness of the hairline, roundness of the bottom of the lip, the negative space, allowing the eye to rest. Then you have the roundness of the shoulder pads and then your eyes drawn down to the roundness of the chest and then even his little stomach muscles are round. The other gentleman, he has like really strong flat, solid chest, really strong nose, like a strong line in his jaw. So the angles in which I got him to pose when we take the photos are sharper and stronger. So I'll get him to turn his head basically. So he's looking in the other direction and then instantly that creates a larger negative space. in the image so then therefore the design when you're looking at it becomes much more enjoyable to the viewer they don't know why that's the reason it's all painting with light. Because I do canvases and because I paint and create art and sculpt, then essentially I'm thinking of that end product and the end product is the image that's going to engage viewers worldwide.

Sharon McGukin:

Everyone loved the designs you did on the stage for AIFD, and obviously the designs were so gorgeous that you prepared for Fashion Week. What is the greatest challenge of bringing those to the stage?

Julia Rose:

well they are flowers and we all know the challenge. So it's the same like we all know the story, right? We do we go like

Sharon McGukin:

We do.

Julia Rose:

event. It's one week. You basically, you know, you're not going to sleep during that way. You just know it because it's all last minute. It's the crazy that we are as humans. As I know, as long as I have all my base designs. If you have a look at the Instagram, you can go further down and you'll see I made the big fur jacket. And all of, I did the the girls design, which had the seatbelt straps. Cause I sort of thought that was cute. I was like, strap yourself in. This thing's going to get wild. But as long as I have those bases, which would essentially act like, if you're doing a big wedding, that would relate to your arbors and your installation bases and, you know, your containers and things like that. As long as I have them, we all know, when you get there, if you have your flowers, you can create. And my biggest attribute, I think, as an artist is, I don't stress. It doesn't bother me. I

Sharon McGukin:

Oh wow. Huh.

Julia Rose:

The first, like, round, and the models, they said, Oh my God, you're not stressed. You're laughing. You're having fun. And I'm like, should I be stressed? Like, everyone behind the scenes is stressed. And I'm like, this is New York Fashion Week. It's amazing. And the thing is, I'm creating with flowers. No one knows what it is that I'm going to put out there. It's only me, you know, who knows the concept. I'm the only one. So whatever I put out there, people will love. Because I know it will be done with professional techniques. And I know it will be beautiful. So I don't stress. And I think if a flower doesn't go the way I want it to, then never meant to be that way, like in that aspect. But yeah, it's just time. It's, I think I had about two hours sleep like every night and then on the final three nights, I was down to about an hour and on the last night I did like that 48 hours, like just no sleep,

Sharon McGukin:

wow.

Julia Rose:

I run on that nervous energy as you and

Sharon McGukin:

The adrenaline.

Julia Rose:

yeah, the adrenaline, the, it's, Huh. Do on the last day. We had, so I had three models a day lined up and so Wednesday opening night, red carpet, three models. We had three days to prepare for those. Then we had Friday. So we had two days to prepare. to prepare for those three models. Then we had one on Saturday, because the lady said, Do you want to do Friday and Saturday? I said, Well, I'm here. I most will do. You know, we're here. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's it. a go. And then on Saturday, one of the models pulled out because she was unwell. So I thought, We'll do Friday. This is fine. This is okay. Cause we only have 24 hours to make two costumes a costume can take like 24, 48 hours, like to bring

Sharon McGukin:

Oh, wow.

Julia Rose:

And then on the last day the agency rang up and she said, well, you were to get a model, what type of model would you like? And I said, please, like a giant man would be my ideal model. You know, just that presence. that he would bring the grandeur or size of him. And I'm like,

Sharon McGukin:

The presence. Oh,

Julia Rose:

o'clock, so the show was at six, this man turned up, the man who has the. And so I had a couple of hours and I'm like, okay, he was beautiful. he speaks French and he's like broken English. He said, I brought boys, you can dress if you want. And then as I was dressing him, I looked at them and In that last, I'd say we had about four hours before the show, I made two extra costumes that weren't planned.

Sharon McGukin:

Amazing.

Julia Rose:

so it's that mad, You know, I was like, you know, when you can see it's the final gig, it's the, you're already broken. You're already, you know, you've had sleepless nights. You've got six hours left and the game is over. So you're like, let's just do this thing. Let's push it all the way through. And

Sharon McGukin:

Because you don't want to lose a minute of that opportunity.

Julia Rose:

no, no, no. And we had all the flowers there and they put so much effort and energy into growing. We just had to take it and do it. So yes, the challenges are like the sleepless, sleepless nights, but we, that's the challenges we all face when we're doing those big gigs. And then it's that madness that you love, right? It's that sort of, you, become like when, when it's over, like you sleep for three days, but then it's a high that you sort of get

Sharon McGukin:

yeah.

Julia Rose:

from the creation. And, what I love too is creating something. And I just love it because I create for my own passion and, but then I give it to the public and I get to see them love it in a whole different way. And everyone views it. And, that's my joy. Like being able to give that to the people.

Sharon McGukin:

And it's like your creative gift becomes a gift to the people around you.

Julia Rose:

Yes, yes. Because I, I also do interactive and immersive art. So I bring to life big, large scale installations. But the way that I do them, I do call outs. And I will raise a floral army. And I invite people in and I invite and people get upset about this, but there's a reason that I do it. So I invite gardeners and flower lovers and florists and artists and photographers. And we do a big bill. We did one in Portland in Oregon and we had 50 people that put their hand up. They all put their hand up for two to three hours each. They all ended up staying for like the three days like nine till nine. Because what happens in the morning, they're confused. They have no idea what it is. You give them the storyboard, you give them the vision. They just create because they're being polite and they're there to create. And then once lunchtime comes, they start to see it come to life. So then they start creating with passion. then once success comes. like putting the cherry on top of the cake. So they're creating to see it come together. Once nine o'clock comes, I have to cut them off and tell them to go home. you know, so then they can reserve their Mhm. a photographer will look at a flower differently than a florist does. And an

Sharon McGukin:

Yes.

Julia Rose:

again, differently to a flower lover. So when you put all these people together, the environment changes. of creativity and different views and different perspectives on flowers. It's beautiful because it

Sharon McGukin:

Mhm.

Julia Rose:

perspective. All the florists are there and they work as florists, but the other people are inspired by them, so therefore it's great for them too because it gives them that confidence and, you know, they're being looked up to by these flower loves and sort of adored as masters of flowers. And then, you know, Not only that build, then we get to open that build up to the public and see how the public, enjoy it. And I'm one of those creepy artists, self admitted creep, where I will sit, just outside of you, and listen to the public speak about it and critique it. because people will say lovely things to your face, but they won't do it. Oh, my God. And so I listened to it and I listened to the critique and I appreciate it. Cause I don't think you get better by everyone saying all good things to you all the time. So I take it in and I understand that everyone has a different perspective and I be influenced by that, what failed, what succeeded, do you know? So it's the whole journey. I love that. I love the creation, sharing with other people, giving to the public, and then listening to them, you know, What, I think you have pretty

squadcaster-27d4_1_12-11-2024_092624:

Japan if you like,

Julia Rose:

cannot They arranged for me to Good. Yeah it was fun. this piece and then we showed him the piece and it was made with these award winning, Lysianthus. It was absolutely beautiful and it was there for, we sat around a table with all these people in a little tiny like paper hut, very humble. There was about half a dozen of us and we sat there for two days and built this piece. then we essentially showed it to him, it was on show for 10 minutes and then it was going in the bin. That was it. I know, right? I know. And I was like, this cannot happen. This cannot happen. So I said, can I take the piece or would you like to keep it? And they said, no, no. You can have it. So the next day I, I put the piece in my suitcase and I took it to back to Tokyo in New York they have escalators and elevators in the underground. In Tokyo they have stairs because they all like to keep fit. So many stairs. You're going up and down these stairs and I've got a suitcase. I have a suitcase with a floral couture dress a top in it. I organized the model. The model was one of Japan's top models. I had a makeup artist from television. I had a photographer, from Vogue. The photographer came from a European country, didn't speak any English. The two Japanese ladies, no English, me, no Japanese or European of this was so essentially we all turned up after dragging this piece. I said to my parents, I'm meeting these people like in the middle of a city in Japan, I don't know them. And they're like, Julia, this is how people get kidnapped. They arranged to meet strangers like in the middle of countries that they don't know. So anyway, we did not get kidnapped total bonus, but yeah, that was great. And I've dragged my little piece up and down the street. And then we turn up in the middle of the city and we just spoke through art, like through visually. You know how you're like, you, clothes off, you put this on, you know. And so then we put this piece on her we're in the middle of Tokyo. It, apparently it's illegal to shoot in Tokyo. Did not know this because I cannot read the script. Japanese signs. So we are there. We had this girl we dropped her in Tokyo is like being inside of a massive pinball machine. So there are lights every, it's like Vegas would be

Sharon McGukin:

Yes,

Julia Rose:

to me.

Sharon McGukin:

I've been there. It's like Times Square on steroids. And

Julia Rose:

We've dropped her in the garden. This man has come running over with white gloves and he's yelling at us. No, no, no, no. Crossing his arms in front of his body like big. No, no, no, no. And I've looked at the photo after all of our efforts, I've looked at the photographer. She's winked at me and then she's like, as if we're going to go ahead, we're going to get the shot. And so she has taken. This man, I'm saying, I'm sorry. I don't understand what you're saying. Meanwhile, he's doing big cross hands in front of my face. And then we got this shot. It's not quite funny, but it's amazing. I suppose it's sort of funny, but amazing. And then if you go, you know, To my social media you'll see there's a photo of a Japanese lady and she's sitting in a garden and she looks so serene and it's so beautiful. But this little piece was dragged up and down the Tokyo railway stations. There was a man in gloves screaming at us. None of us spoke the same language and the image that we produced is the epitome of serenity. with a beautiful Japanese, the flatness of the face, the gap between her eyes, the edge, beautiful pale skin. So

Sharon McGukin:

moral of that story is it takes a lot of chaos to create serenity.

Julia Rose:

It does. It's like all smoke and mirrors, isn't it? You know, it looks so

Sharon McGukin:

It is.

Julia Rose:

beautiful. And then behind the scenes, there was

Sharon McGukin:

It's like craziness.

Julia Rose:

going on. Yeah, yeah,

Sharon McGukin:

Oh, that is so true. So very true. But you're very blessed to be able to have those experiences to remember.

Julia Rose:

yes,

Sharon McGukin:

you enjoy them twice. Once when you're enjoying the opportunity, and a second time when you sit back and remember it.

Julia Rose:

yes, most definitely, and many times, because you know when you teach you get to share the stories with people

Sharon McGukin:

Yes. Laughter.

Julia Rose:

was so serene and beautiful, but the chaos behind the scene was not. So people love to hear that because it's life. right? Because you think

Sharon McGukin:

Yeah, and they identify with the chaos.

Julia Rose:

they do. They identify with sure.

Sharon McGukin:

Which part of your dream coming true touches your heart the most? I have a feeling it's the people you work with

Julia Rose:

Yes.

Sharon McGukin:

much so as the things you work on. Is that true?

Julia Rose:

So, so true. Right. I'll just reflect back. So say New York fashion week in regards to that, as I mentioned, the models were as beautiful. Beautiful inside. They are outside. So because we're working and breaking together, because it is that chaos behind the scenes. And then we go out on stage and it's all beautiful and calm and just fabulous. Like you build a relationship with them. But not only that it's the sound, it's the lighting, the artists who are helping. It's all of those creatives that you get to meet and be inspired by to create. I love that. I love that infusion of artists and just having all of them there. And because I specialize in live media activations and things like that it's always moving. The greatest plans. always change because of the human factor. So it's the ability to be able to work with all those creative people and see them working on the ground and just going, Okay, no, let's shift. Let's just completely do a 360. We are going in the opposite direction. And we are going to make this happen. And we're going to make it happen no matter what. And I love that. Like it inspires me that being around those beings. It's beautiful. And then again, the public because they see it in a different way. Yeah, I just, enjoy that people factor and their creatives.

Sharon McGukin:

Does your husband travel with you?

Julia Rose:

Yes, he He's active, so he's my partner and he was a builder and he's a musician. So he actually makes music for my

Sharon McGukin:

He's creative also. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Julia Rose:

He comes with me and he builds all the sets. And, so he's gone from building and in building, it's like very masculine, very, you know, you have that masculinity in Australia. It can be like that toxic masculinity, not in a bad way, but that's just the culture of that industry. So for him to adjust but because he's a musician, then he's a creative as well. But the initial everything all pre planned. A goes with B, which goes with C. In floristry, it's all last minute. And that drove him crazy initially. Like he was like, why are you always last minute? What is wrong with you?

Sharon McGukin:

What is wrong with you?

Julia Rose:

with perishable products, but now he comes along, he'll do anything he will. So if he has to, he does all the same. will get coffees for the model. He's my pillow fluffer. Like, he makes me a nest. He makes sure I am fed. He's just like a P. A. But who can lift heavy things and build, too.

Sharon McGukin:

You are very blessed to have him.

Julia Rose:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then

Sharon McGukin:

And I'm sure he is very blessed to come along with you.

Julia Rose:

house. And each one of those installations we had to bring to life in one day. So I had to have all the organizing parts, and I organized sound engineering, lighting, models. Makeup photographers flowers, all of the accessories from Oasis, like all of that, all of that to be there. So when we landed on the ground, we could bring together this installation. I had a crane, I had rigging. And so he comes along and he, he thrives on that energy. And what I do, we had the 50 volunteers. And 49 of them were women and one of them was a man. And I just like handed him over to those women and said, he is yours to do whatever you want. So they just boss him around. They like, You know, and he loves it. He loves it, right? Yeah.

Sharon McGukin:

That is so good. Well, where do you go from here?

Julia Rose:

So this morning I had fantastic news. We have actually been invited back to New York Fashion Week.

Sharon McGukin:

Fantastic. Now, I do have a question for you. Did you apply for New York Fashion Week, or did they contact you initially?

Julia Rose:

actually reached out to me because what

Sharon McGukin:

And now they've reached to you a second time. Fabulous.

Julia Rose:

yes. Because as I was saying before with the models because I'm so laid back in the stretch. The, the no stressing the models actually on the first day, I don't think I continued, I sort of waffled off somewhere else. But on the first day, what happened, the model's like, you're so relaxed. You're so laid back. This is so fun. They had a ball. We laugh, we carry on. And so then what happened that night after the first night, had all of these text from all of these models wanting to run for us, wanting to show from us. And so when you get that response from the models, then the people pay attention because To do it, yeah. Huh. Oh, not have spoken higher of us. So therefore the agency spoke high of us to the Fashion Week and then want us back. They did reach out to me because I, over here, like, I'm a judge at the Australian Wearable Arts, I do lots of runways, fashion, red carpet, media. Like, it's all those activations within that fashion and film industry and media. So they did reach out to me and I think it was a repercussion of the Met Gala last year had a lot of florals featured. And so what happened everyone was tagging me, like so many Oh my god, you are the master of this. You should have been there. You should have

Sharon McGukin:

cool.

Julia Rose:

And I feel like that's where they found my name. And then they Huh. out to me, like, literally five weeks before the show.

Sharon McGukin:

Oh, wow.

Julia Rose:

over. Yes! And so

Sharon McGukin:

That's fabulous.

Julia Rose:

It's five weeks before, so we did the red carpet last time, and

Sharon McGukin:

huh.

Julia Rose:

was one issue with the red carpet, and you'll note now that I am telling you, all of our photos are outside, there's only a couple inside the venue, because what happened, we were supposed to be in activation on the red carpet, people come in, they have the photos taken with our models, and then they continue through, like on the media wall, but Every Huh. models would get on the media wall, the media would swamp them no one could move and the

Sharon McGukin:

Ah ha ha, ah ha ha.

Julia Rose:

And so then

Sharon McGukin:

Oh crazy. Ah ha ha, ah ha ha, ah ha ha.

Julia Rose:

Put us in this grand hallway, which is in Sony Hall, Marvel stairwell. And they said, well, at

Sharon McGukin:

huh,

Julia Rose:

if you are on one side, people will be able to move freely on the other side. But what happened? The media up the top and

Sharon McGukin:

that's right.

Julia Rose:

of the hallway. And so we just kept causing chaos in the best of ways.

Sharon McGukin:

Ah ha ha. Ah ha ha.

Julia Rose:

next time they've invited us to do a runway show

Sharon McGukin:

Fantastic. Congratulations,

Julia Rose:

me know this morning that that's going ahead.

Sharon McGukin:

Exciting news. That is so exciting.

Julia Rose:

Last time we kept shooting on the street and we were roaming activation, red carpet Huh. And we'll have playing. And then my partner who's Rod, his name's Rod he, We'll make the music that goes to the runway and we'll have yeah, all of our models back and we'll do it again but this time like we'll do it like a production. In addition to the podcast, I'll also do a blog of our conversation today. I have the links you gave me to the Instagram, Yes.

Sharon McGukin:

links. And you are going to give me some photos that we can use.

Julia Rose:

Yes.

Sharon McGukin:

our viewers, can go to the blog and see the photos you're talking about and the Instagram links that you mentioned earlier.

Julia Rose:

most definitely. I'll show you the photos. New York Fashion Week and you can go through Yeah. as you can see, like with the music that I chose, like it was rock and pop and things like that. I'll share all of the images with you and you can you'll be able to definitively see the techniques I'm talking about while I'm discussing them if you're looking at the images as well.

Sharon McGukin:

Okay. Thank you so much.

Julia Rose:

absolute

Sharon McGukin:

so much for sharing your story with us. As I said, we enjoyed watching you on stage at AIFD and seeing you online. But hearing you tell your story of chaos and serenity, there's nothing like hearing directly from somebody who has such joy in the work as you do.

Julia Rose:

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me and thank you so much. We love America. America's just embraced us and they've we go. Everyone has been so amazing. love, okay, just let me say this, every state in America, you don't realize, but it's like a different country because

Sharon McGukin:

Huh. It's true.

Julia Rose:

yeah, it is. And,

Sharon McGukin:

It is true.

Julia Rose:

we've had so much joy, like just discovering that because everyone, like in the Midwest, they want to feed you, right?

sharon--_1_12-10-2024_182624:

Huh. And in the south, too. You said you haven't gotten to the south yet. We'll feed you here, too. Huh.

Julia Rose:

They're different. Like, they have a different pie. And they have a different thing that they love. And they just love that. Like, Portland love being weird. Really love it. You know, and then that's, it's great.

Sharon McGukin:

I read an interesting article that explained that as people came into the country to settle they came from different parts of the world, and so the people that first came, like the pilgrims and such, they settled in the east. and they tend to be very conservative. But the ones who settled California in the gold strike were the adventurers, and they came from a different location. And then a lot of people from Europe came to the Midwest and, food is binding

Julia Rose:

Yes,

Sharon McGukin:

and

Julia Rose:

makes

Sharon McGukin:

a lot of Irish people settled in the south, and so were very garden y. So it was really interesting that you could look at each region of the country and see who originally settled them.

Julia Rose:

Oh, you can most definitely. And just. It's the nature of the people, I think coming from overseas you don't, I don't know, you just think USA,

Sharon McGukin:

Yeah.

Julia Rose:

it's just all the same, but when you're over there,

Sharon McGukin:

It's very different.

Julia Rose:

state is a different country and it's beautiful, so we can't wait to explore more of it. Because, yeah, we

Sharon McGukin:

You think about a European country is very often about the size of one of our states.

Julia Rose:

That's true, isn't it? Yeah. It's just,

Sharon McGukin:

Yeah.

Julia Rose:

it's mind blowing. And your accents are so different everywhere. Just so and like you're g'day. If we say different things that belong to our region, the slang is all very different too. AIFD symposium that was most prevalent to me because you had a mixture of everyone from all

Sharon McGukin:

huh.

Julia Rose:

states and is it South, they call you ma'am, ma'am, ma'am.

Sharon McGukin:

Huh.

Julia Rose:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So just that different sort of terminologies because

Sharon McGukin:

Huh.

Julia Rose:

you all, y'all,

Sharon McGukin:

We say y'all.

Julia Rose:

y'all

Sharon McGukin:

say y'all.

Julia Rose:

Oh,

Sharon McGukin:

and then there's you' ins, and oh, there's another one that's very similar. But yeah, we have different ways. But, when we come together, even though we think differently, or dress eat speak differently, we feel all as one.

Julia Rose:

you most definitely. America is, you see it.

Sharon McGukin:

Yeah.

Julia Rose:

America is America. And that's why you don't expect the differences when you go over there. Just, I mean. Like those traditions or cultures that you have in

Sharon McGukin:

Yeah.

Julia Rose:

But most definitely you can see the love for the USA that everyone has. It's, it's wonderful. Yeah.

Sharon McGukin:

Very good. And I hope next time, instead of meeting online, we should meet in Australia. I've never been to Australia.

Julia Rose:

Ah, you'll have to come down under where we are. We have just relocated. We used to live up on the Gold Coast and now we're down in Newcastle, which is just an hour from Sydney. easily accessible.

Sharon McGukin:

Very cool.

Julia Rose:

where everyone knows.

Sharon McGukin:

In closing, I just want to thank you so much for being with us. You've been delightful and we'll have to talk again after February and get the new update.

Julia Rose:

Most definitely.

Sharon McGukin:

To our audience, Smithers Oasis North America, Julia and I want to thank you for joining us today. If you've enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and be sure to hit subscribe. You don't want to miss the inspired solutions our upcoming guests will share with you for your personal or business growth. If you have topics or guests you want to hear, please message me. We'd love to hear from you. Until next time, I'm Sharon McGukin reminding you that like the unfurling petals of a flower, we grow by changing form. Soaking inspiration in like raindrops. Absorbing energy from others like warmth. This growth opens us up to new ideas and that's How we Bloom.

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Sharon McGukin AIFD, AAF, PFCI

Host
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Sharon McGukin AIFD, AAF, PFCI

Host