Although the fabric flower industry experienced an incredible boom in the early 20th century in the United States, when they were widely used in dresses and hats, now there is only one factory of this decorative element in New York, which survives in the heart of the District of Manhattan Fashion using many of the techniques implemented over 100 years ago.
“When this company started, there were many manufacturers making flowers, and the whole Fashion District was a prosperous place. Things were very different then,” says Adam Brand, the fourth generation of the same family, in front of dozens of rows of petals. that has managed to keep M&S Schmalberg afloat, founded more than a century ago.
ALMOST ETERNAL MACHINERY
Friendly and chatty, Brand proudly displays simple pieces of small-factory machinery that were purchased when the business started more than a century ago and continues to make the colorful, voluminous flowers that they sell to prestigious fashion designers, fashion companies, dance or film production companies.
Huge shelves house hundreds of heavy stamps with the outlines of all kinds of flowers and sizes, with which the petals are cut, which are then shaped by steel molds, which weigh 30 kilos, helped by the heat of the fire. .
Afterwards, half a dozen workers manipulate the silk, velvet or leather petals to obtain daisies, lilies or roses with a mastery acquired after more than 30 years of experience in the company.
THE BOOM AND DECLINE OF THE SECTOR
Despite having important clients, the volume of business is much lower than when M&S Schmalberg was founded in 1916 by Brand’s great-great-uncle, when New York was considered one of the world centers of the production of artificial flowers, competing in volume and quality with the very Paris.
At that time, the Big Apple had about 150 factories and about 3,300 workers who were dedicated to the production of artificial flowers and feathers, popular elements with which women of the time embellished their dresses and hats.
With the passage of time and the consequent change in tastes, fabric flowers were less and less coveted, with which the demand began to deflate, but it was the tsunami “Made in China” (Made in China) that really killed the industry, Brand says.
“Some 25 or 30 years ago the ‘Made in China’ movement began, when pressure was really put to do things cheaply and abroad,” says the head of the business, pointing out that, in addition, large companies Fashion chains began to order samples just to copy the design and produce their own copies.
“I remember hearing stories from my father and my aunt, about designers coming to the store and making us create new styles and then we didn’t know anything about them. And later when my father walked through stores he would see copies of what we had created,” he explains the young businessman.
The gray hair has led company managers to understand that “things are like this now”, and that the solution is to charge more money for samples to these types of customers: “We have to keep business,” he reasons.
FASHION, FILM AND SHOWS
Fashion, however, is not its only market niche, although it is one of the most important, because its flowers end up in designs by Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta or Marchesa, on the popular Victoria’s Secret catwalk and in dresses of gala that Drew Barrymore, Anne Hathaway or Scarlet Johannson wear on the red carpet.
Movies and television also bring them significant benefits, and their creations have appeared in recent years in movies such as “Crazy Rich Asians” and on television shows such as “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
And also, some of the most prestigious cultural institutions, such as the New York Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera, or the Australian Opera also have their flowers for their stages and costumes.
The last decades have been complicated by changes in the sector, but this has recently been joined by the omnipresent coronavirus, which has prevented the holding of a good number of catwalks, has paralyzed filming of series and films, and has forced the theater and the opera to lower the curtain.
A HOPING FUTURE
Still, M&S Schmalberg, which has a strong online presence, is optimistic and sees a future full of success.
“I think everything is cyclical. There was a time when you wanted everything to be cheap, (…) to go anywhere where it is cheap, regardless of employment conditions, wages, security measures. And I think that now we are tending to relearn how things are done, to know where the shirt I wear comes from, and the shoes and the flowers, “says Brand.
In addition, the return to normality after the pandemic, he predicts, will bring an explosion of exuberance and opulence accompanied, of course, by a large number of flowers.
“I’m talking about when Yankee Stadium is full again, and when people go back to seeing shows and everything is normal again. When that time comes, there is going to be a resurgence of beauty, and what better way to represent the beauty than flowers, “he says.
“I love what I do, and I am optimistic that we will be able to survive because that is what we have always done,” ditch.
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