Zita, ZEDA and flowers

Her shop was opened on Sandycombe road at Kew in 2003. I must have passed it hundred and two times but despite its simple elegance and beauty I never walked in. It seemed expensive... 


One of the reasons I love blogging is that you have to push through the boundaries of your own 'shyness' (Gosh, my friends would laugh out loud now!) for something which appeals to you like a 'good story to tell'. 


So I emailed her one night to ask permission to take some photos and surprisingly she emailed me back very next day to say that I was welcome any time. Horay! 



He name is Zita Elze and when you do simple google search, you get something along the line 'Brazilian-born, London-based designer florist who earned her place at the creative foreground of contemporary British Floristry'. One (and that one was the Alison Bradley, Fusion Flowers) went as far as calling her 'doyenne of floral chic'.

Zita lives very private life, but from a few  interviews you learn that  she took one-month professional floristry course while studying artistic bookbinding in Paris, and that she also lived in Italy and Germany before moving to London. 

Zita's favourite flowers - garden roses, dahlias and grasses but she says "Style every flower properly and it will shine". 


Her style is described as painting with flowers, something that comes direct from the soul, hers or her colleagues while she is away from the shop. 

Zita is famous for her unique style of intricate floral embroidery, a combination of fabric with plant materials (here). The vase which is kept in Kew shop has dried out but nevertheless looks amazing!

As I was taking photos a customer walked in and purchased a bouquet of the lovely flowers for £45. And while for some this may be the the amount they spend on the present itself, it was well below what I'd have expected to pay myself!

After the customer left, I asked Zita's assistant who started assembling another bouquet what sort of events they do. 


"We do lots of weddings", she says. 
"Anyone famous?" I ask. 
"Well, surprisingly not. We did one footballer, but I am not in football so I don't remember the name".

Zita herself says that 'she loves to see the beauty - it doesn't matter in what form'. And you can feel it as every corner of her shop transpire the simple and elegant beauty achieved by clever use of natural daylight, lots of mirrors and accessories. 

 In 2009 Zita opened her Design Academy - ZEDA, where she teaches the others how to transpose the emotions into design, creating from the soul, how not to be confined by the rules, and how to 'go the extra mile' to succeed. 

So as Zita was in Holland the day I came to take photos, I went that extra mile by emailing her and asking to share with me something which would make this post a bit more 'real'. 

She was in San Paulo in April, she emailed back, and the plans to open a shop there are still very alive though on hold due to her very busy schedule. 


Her life revolves a lot around ZEDA where she teaches all aspect of floristry in one month class, which attracts students from as far as Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Australia. The most popular class is the Concept and Design where she helps students aiming to develop their own creativity. However she also has one day classes open to everyone willing to have a go and immerse themselves in the beautiful world of flowers.  


And among the other things, she 'will be representing the UK at the Singapore Garden Festival in July, where herself and her team as well as some of her former students will be part of the preparation of the exhibit'. Her another upcoming project is an exhibition at Southwark Cathedral from the 23rd to the 26th of August where they 'will be creating a carpet of flowers under the reclining statue of Shakespeare'.   

A very random question who her favourite designer is proves hard to answer but she chooses one - Tage Andersen, the true artist from the heart...


And a book?!...Well, it has to wait for now but knowing Zita's approach to 'go slowly but surely in everything she does', I am left with absolutely no doubts that it will happen. 


vasha Tasha