Jenny Gillies Invited to Top UK Flower Show

Jenny Gillies Invited to Top UK Flower Show

Centrepiece at Harrogate ‘HortCouture’ Themed Spring Event

Award-winning designs from Christchurch costumier and artist Jenny Gillies, will be one of the main attractions at an internationally renowned flower show in the UK, this month

Invited to exhibit at the Harrogate Spring Flower Show from 20th-23rd April, http://www.flowershow.org.uk/ Jenny is taking her Christchurch Connection exhibition which includes 15 stunning costumes, to the UK, for her first exhibition outside Australasia.

Jenny’s exhibition will form a spectacular centrepiece within the show’s HortCouture theme for Spring 2017 which also features large scale floral art displays paying tribute to four of the world’s most famous fashion houses – Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Versace and Vivienne Westwood. Jenny is honoured to be included in a tribute of such doyens of design.

“It’s an exciting opportunity not only to exhibit in Europe for the first time, but also to spread the word about our beautiful city of Christchurch and the rich culture visitors can expect to find when they visit us,” she says. “I shall be sowing the seeds of the city’s recovery highlighting some of the quite incredible things that are going on Christchurch at the moment and in the future.”

Harrogate Spring Flower Show Director Nick Smith says when he and his team first saw Jenny’s work on her website they were completely blown away by the fabulous detail and stunning spectacle of her flower gowns.

“They are a perfect fit for our spring HortCouture theme. We are looking forward to hearing the story of Jenny’s work and how the beautiful flowers and gardens of the city of Christchurch helped to inspire her to create such stunning works of art.”

Jenny says she will be showing costumes that primarily showcase the bold fashion design elements which make her work so unique.

“In a similar way to some of the avant garde fashion designers I always aim to have a ‘wow’ component in my designs, something that people have never seen before and perhaps to some degree makes the costume look really ‘out there’. World renowned designers like Westwood and Versace are a perfect fit for a garden show like this because flower costuming lends itself to the kind of imagination needed to challenge the usual ideas of what a flower looks like,” she says.

Jenny will travel to the UK on April 10 along with 14 boxes of carefully packed designs, and each day during the Harrogate Spring Flower Show, she will be giving a live presentation to visitors.

Harrogate Spring Flower Show is the UK’s biggest and most prestigious independent flower show, attracting up to 60,000 visitors and 1,000 exhibitors. It was recently rated Britain’s best gardening event by the country’s national consumer organisation, Which?

The event, together with a sister autumn flower show, is staged by the North of England Horticultural Society, a leading gardening charity set up in 1911 whose Patron is HRH The Prince of Wales.

For more details visit www.flowershow.org.uk and www.jennygillies.com/

For more press information or images from the show please contact Camilla Harrison +44 (0)1423 546160 orcamilla@flowershow.org.uk or in NZ Ali Jones on +64 3 027 247 3112

Interviews with the Harrogate Spring Flower Show Director Nick Smith can be arranged from 8pm until 10pm UK Time. Please telephone or email Camilla Harrison to organise.

ENDS

Background:

Jenny, who lives in Christchurch, combines her love of gardens and flowers to create truly amazing costumes, often taking three months and up to 70 metres of sumptuous silk and velvet fabrics to complete.

A former microbiologist, Jenny started making wearable art 20 years ago after a sunflower hat she made was spotted at the annual Christchurch Cup and Show Week horse racing events, and she was then commissioned to make more. Jenny has gone on to produce costumes for theatre, film and opera, and has won several awards.

Her work has featured at the Royal Adelaide Show, the World of Wearable Art Awards, and Ellerslie International Flower Show. A selection of her designs is currently on display at the Christchurch Botanical Gardens to mark the reopening of the historic Tea Kiosk following the devastating earthquakes of 2011.

Jenny’s gowns begin with a real flower, which she pulls apart to create patterns for each element and ensure that her creation is botanically correct. She now has a collection of around 100 costumes and displays a regularly rotating selection at the Victorian Tea Kiosk in the Botanic Gardens in Christchurch.

ENDS

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