Introducing freakebana: Flower arrangements where ugly meets cool

Floral trend followers on Instagram may have noticed an unconventional new trend emerging – freakebana.

A term coined by writer Stella Bugbee of New York publication The Cut, the bizarre arrangement style is taking off in high-fashion circles of the Big Apple.

A play on the word “ikebana”, the Japanese term for the disciplined art form of floristry, freakebana involves using unlikely materials to create an avant-garde display.

Basically, you can use whatever is lying within reach. Grass, root vegetables, pumice and even inanimate objects like rubber gloves, sponges or pieces of metal.

It’s sort of like the Frankenstein’s monster of flower arrangements.

Rosie Holt of Rose Tinted Flowers, sees the trend as a way to wipe the slate clean from a previous preference in the market for fussy arrangements.

“I think it’s a bit of a palette cleanser from all the whimsical, rustic bouquets and florals that have dominated the likes of Pinterest for the last few years,” said Holt.

“You know what I mean, things like wildflowers in mason jars. They’ve had their time, it’s over.”

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Part of the cult-appeal of freakebana, is that what you create doesn’t have to be good, just weird.

In this way, creative licence is provided to your regular person, who likely doesn’t get the opportunity (or feel that it’s possible) to be creative very often.

“I think people out there really love that chance to think creatively and let themselves have fun in a way they normally wouldn’t,” said Juliet Moore of Flowers Manuela.

Avant-garde arrangements are one of the staples of this particular florist’s business. The desire for which Moore and her manager, namesake florist Manuela Lipshan, think the desire for ebbs and flows.

“We often incorporate things like wood, bark, anything that grows, we can use in one way or another.”

The studio also regularly uses unusual plants like tiny pineapples grown on stalks and an exotic variety of lemon called Buddha’s hands.

“They’re a type of lemon but they’re really crazy,” said Moore.

The pair see freakebana as an evolution of avant-garde floristry. “It’s quite a 1970s retro trend or at least very reminiscent of one,” Moore said.

Fruits are often already used in floral displays she points out, like strawberries on Valentines day, fruit in Christmas arrangements, and yes, even root vegetables in the more conceptual displays created for corporate environments like architects’ offices.

– stuff.co.nz