While authors employ words and photographers make clever use of light and film, Mark Colle articulates his vision through flowers. He does so in such an inspired and imaginative manner, that to simply classify him as a florist somehow undermines his output. After all, this is a man who assisted in Raf Simons’ recalibration of Christian Dior Haute Couture for Autumn/Winter 2012 with his staggering floor-to-ceiling display of over a million delphiniums, orchids and mimosas; not to mention his countless custom arrangements for fashion houses and esteemed editorial titles.
Today, operating from his shop-cum-studio Baltimore Bloemen in Antwerp, he remains as dedicated to his practice as ever – and is currently motivated by the changing of the seasons. "Leaves start to fade, berries start to appear, I love the smell of autumn, it’s my favourite," he tells us. Coincidentally, it's a special time of year for us too – as the Autumn/Winter 2016 edition of AnOther Magazine graces newsstands across the globe. To commemorate this moment, we asked Colle – who also features in the issue – to interpret four of our landmark covers with exquisite custom bouquets.
The resulting arrangements, deftly captured by Belgian photographer Marcel Lennartz, bring various components of the cover images to life. As he explains, “Of course there are the obvious elements like colours, or patterns that you find in a garment. But sometimes it's simply the atmosphere, or a small detail in the background that inspires.” Indeed, Colle has no need to elaborate further, his nuanced realisation speaks for itself.
