Studio Linné is a Berlin based flower studio, founded in 2020 by floral designer Misha Todirascu. At first glance, it is already clear that this groovy floral studio is anything but ordinary. We talked with Misha about her interesting career choice, dream projects and her take on the importance of social media presence.

Nele Tüch: How does one become a floral designer – it’s definitely not the obvious path of
career, is it?

Like most real things in life, at the time it just made sense. I spent the better half of a decade
researching floral traditions across western and eastern cultures, supervising floral
arrangements and installations for agency productions, and frequently getting lost in
wildflower patches and botanical gardens, to be where I am today.

NT: It’s really important for you that “the integrity of natural elements” is kept alive.
What does that mean and how do you pursue it?

Apparently a lot of people interpret this differently. I’m not interested in replicating nature, nor
do I accept the assumption that the natural and human worlds are separate. Maintaining
“integrity of natural elements” comes down to all the moving parts of a work harmonizing
conceptually. Contrary to how this might sound, I’ve always been super interested in
“assembled chaos”, or how to make opposing elements work together. I think of how a
helicopter's ability to achieve flight is dependent on every component trying desperately to
rip away from each other. Extraordinary things happen on the verge of oblivion.

NT: Flowers are ephemeral, though Social Media is able to turn them into a constant.
Before we were getting flowers as presents – to others or just for ourselves, now they
can be a form of positioning and self-display. Do you think this phenomenon
influences the success of Studio Linné?

Floral arrangements are just one form of temporary art, not unlike location-specific or
performance art. Art should be documented in order to be accessible to wider audiences.

NT: Since we’re talking about Social Media, how important is a public presence on
Instagram & Co. for your business?

Social media is ubiquitous but it’s not the only way we connect with our clients. We still
prefer to meet people IRL so we know there’s a vibe before working together on a project.
Don’t call it “networking” though because that’s cringe.
That said, it’s still possible to be real on social media despite influencer and co. For example
when directors, agencies, or other creatives slide in our DMs just to say they love our work
or say hi… a lot of our most exciting projects started out as a text convo.Text

NT: You’re the only floral design studio in Berlin with its own flower shop. What has
been your favorite project so far, between the production sets, photo/video shoots,
and installations?

True, we wanted a physical space where people can experience our floral design vision in
their daily life, so we built our concept store around the idea of creating personalised
arrangements in Studio Linné style, while also offering a curated selection of vases and
home goods that integrate with our style and complement the conscious flower experience.
As for a favorite project, maybe it is yet to come.

NT: How does your dream project look like?

Wretched maximalism. We are so over the days of flowers being sweet and simple.

NT: The scent you are emotionally linked to the most?

Lilies. My mother’s name is Lila, and every year on her birthday all our family, friends, and
neighbors would gather at our home and bring lilies. The apartment would smell like lilies for
days after, long after the lilies had gone.

NT: What was your last biggest revelation?

Running Studio Linné made me realize my duty to floral designers everywhere is to be
uncompromising in establishing the profession in the creative industry. We still get a lot of
photographers or set designers that think they can do what we do themselves, or work being
misattributed. There’s a sexist, diminishing undertone here for sure, considering the
majority of florists identify as woman.
Also, to tell a stylist they need to do hair and makeup on a set is an extremely unprofessional
faux pas at best, yet sometimes we are asked to support productions outside the scope of
floral, as if being hired depended on it, so we are always like, “where is the gap here?”.
However annoying that is, we appreciate that people are not exposed to the artistic
possibilities of flowers as much as other mediums like photo or painting, so on the other
hand we have a rare opportunity to directly influence that social consciousness ourselves.
So that’s pretty groovy.

NT: How do you define leeway (= Freiraum) and where can you find it?

What I love about Studio Linné is we’ve carved out a space where the whole team can find
freedom of expression in every way that matters, but most importantly by not crossing
someone’s boundaries, this is what leeway is for me, an ethical freedom.