Emma Sibley
Emma Sibley is a plant expert and author specialising in in-store greenery, terrarium design and nature-based brand activations. Collaborations include Nike, Anya Hindmarch, Percival, Samsung, Aesop, H&M, Chase and the V&A.
Anya Hindmarch — Return to Nature
For Anya Hindmarch's Return to Nature collection we built our largest terrarium to date, with The Lost Boys on the glass and metal structure. Over 950 litres of compost held three biodegradable bags from the collection, staged on distressed platforms inside the flagship store. The shopfront was treated the same way, with ivy, grasses and Muehlenbeckia tucked into cracks in the paintwork. A weekly visit was all it asked of us.
Client: Anya HindmarchStructure: The Lost Boys Ananya — Window Design
For Ananya I was asked to create a window display for their Burlington Arcade store to celebrate Chelsea Flower Show. I took inspiration from Ananya's Mogra collection, using preserved moss, ferns, hardscaping and crystals to emulate the collection.
Client: Ananya Fine JewelleryDesign: Emma Sibley V&A Museum — Fashioned from Nature
The Victoria and Albert Museum commissioned us two years ahead of opening for their 2019 Fashioned from Nature exhibition. The terrariums sat at the top of the main Fashion Gallery staircase, framing Emma Watson's 2016 Met Gala dress made from recycled plastic bottles. The challenge was that they had to live in the gallery for well over a year without natural light, so we worked with the V&A's lighting technicians to fit LED bulbs into the corks of each vessel, delivering the exact wavelengths the plants needed to thrive.
Client: V&A MuseumExhibition: Fashioned from NatureLighting: V&A in-house technicians Chase Distillery — Terrarium Workshop
A Dry January collaboration with Chase Distillery, turning fifty of their empty gin and vodka bottles into planted ecosystems. We shared the studio with landscape architect Tom Massey, Mr Plant Geek's Michael Perry and gardener James Barley, sealing Fittonia, ivy, asparagus fern and moss into each bottle while a mixologist served cocktails between shots. The finished pieces went out through Chase's own channels and to press, a quiet counterpoint to the usual January drinks push.
Client: Chase DistilleryWith: Tom MasseyWith: Michael Perry (Mr Plant Geek)With: James Barley Anya Hindmarch — Garden Centre
For Anya Village on Pont Street we built a full 1970s garden centre, timed to open alongside the Chelsea Flower Show. Over 100 terracotta pots held marigolds, bizzy lizzies and pansies, set amongst ten overflowing hanging baskets and an antique 1970s carboy we planted as the centrepiece. We visited every few days through the run to water and deadhead, so the whole space looked as though it had always been there.
Client: Anya HindmarchLocation: Anya Village, Pont Street Commune — In-Store Greenery
For Commune's first store, in Bruton, Somerset, we made four 55cm glass cube terrariums. Each one answers to a season, an area of the Somerset landscape, and one of the brand's four scents. Mosses, ferns and bark were planted into each cube with the shop's lighting mapped in advance so nothing would scorch. They sit on Commune's shelves now, quietly finding their shape as the plants settle.
Client: CommuneLocation: Bruton, Somerset H&M Home — Product Styling
A product styling collaboration with H&M Home. We made a set of terrariums specifically for their seasonal shoot, each planted to sit cleanly alongside H&M Home's ceramics, textiles and accessories on set. Less a dressed interior, more a set of objects in their own right, photographed as part of the range rather than the backdrop behind it.
Client: H&M Home Nike x Footpatrol — SNKRS N Houseplants
For the Air Max 1 Hemp launch we hosted an evening at Footpatrol with Tasha Bains and Joey Birch, founders of SNKRS N Houseplants. Sneakerheads and plant people built sealed ecosystems together, the species chosen to echo the hemp upper and crepe sole of the shoe. The workshop was written up across sneaker press and plant press alike. Every guest took a finished terrarium home.
Client: NikeVenue: FootpatrolWith: SNKRS N Houseplants (Tasha Bains & Joey Birch) Percival — Clothing & Window
A collaboration with Percival Menswear across a limited-edition clothing run and their London shop window. We worked with Alex Harley, Terry Donovan and Naomi on the collection, which sold in-store and online, and set the window display for the launch. GQ picked it up in their coolest things of the week the same week it went out.
Client: PercivalWith: Alex HarleyWith: Terry DonovanWith: NaomiPress: GQ Samsung — Galaxy Z Fold 7
A custom terrarium built for Samsung Mobile's Galaxy Z Fold 7 social campaign, designed at the scale of the device itself. One of us stayed on set through the shoot, keeping the planting pristine between takes and adjusting the mist and moss for each angle. Small and compact, it held its own next to the phone in every frame.
Client: Samsung Aesop — Plant Design
For Aesop we took on the plant design across their new Islington and Richmond stores. A shift in scale from our usual sealed miniature gardens to large interior trees, their feet in the floor and leaves reaching across the ceilings. Plants chosen to hold their own against Aesop's quiet palette, shaped around the architecture rather than placed within it.
Client: AesopLocation: Islington & RichmondWith: @diongue & team