New Zealand Gnomes Break 100-year Ban

New Zealand Gnomes Break 100-year Ban At Prestigious Chelsea Flower Show, London

New Zealand toy company Seedling NZ’s gnomes are to be showcased at the world’s most famous gardening event, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show, in London this week.

The RHS has controversially banned gnomes as “brightly coloured mythical creatures” at the internationally acclaimed event leading to decades of protesting and accusations of discrimination.  Placard-bearing protestors have stood at the gates of the show demanding ‘equal rights for gnomes’.

But this year the RHS has lifted the prohibition as part of the show’s centenary celebrations and to raise funds for its school gardening campaign.  150 celebrities have been invited to paint and decorate the Seedling NZ gnomes, which will feature at the event and be paraded before the Queen. 

For one year only the celebrity gnomes will be on display before they are auctioned on eBay.   The likes of Sir Elton John, Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Helen Mirren, Julian Fellowes, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Rob Brydon and Antonio Carluccio have all decorated and signed the Seedling NZ gnomes with Sir Elton proudly posting pictures of his glittered creation online.

It’s an enormous achievement for a New Zealand company with a classic Kiwi-can-do attitude to have been chosen to supply the gnome kits, but it’s not the first time Seedling NZ has shone on the global stage. The company’s highly successful craft kits have appeared on The Today Show and The View and their products are sold in Harrods, Selfridges, Neimen Marcus and Anthropologie.

Seedling NZ CEO Phoebe Hayman is chuffed that her gnomes will be breaking the ban on an event so steeped in tradition.  “It’s amazing to receive such recognition and to see our little antipodean gnomes adorned by celebrities and parading on a world stage."
The former photographer turned toy craft-kit designer says she noticed that many modern toys were left abandoned on the floor within minutes and so wanted to provide kids with the means to be as creative as their imaginations stretched.   Her extensive range of quality activity packs is dedicated to helping kids develop their creative sides.

Since its launch five years ago, Seedling NZ has increased turnover by 1,100% with two-thirds of its product exported to 20 countries and stocked in 300 stores locally.  And unlike many of its competitors, the high-end, organic Seedling NZ kits continue to be manufactured and assembled in New Zealand.

ENDS

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