Today we’d like to introduce you to Simona Spaiardi.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I spent nearly 30 years working in communication, marketing and events, mainly within the fashion and luxury industries. I had the opportunity to manage international projects, build brand identities and create experiences in which every detail contributed to a larger story.
After the pandemic, I felt the need for a profound change. I wanted to move from communicating other people’s visions to creating something tangible and personal with my own hands. I studied floral design, trained abroad and completed a six-month unpaid internship to learn the practical side of the profession from the ground up.
In 2024, I founded Fleur Milano. Today, I create bespoke floral installations and botanical projects for luxury brands, hotels, events and cultural spaces. My previous career still plays an important role in my work, it taught me how to understand a brand, develop a concept and transform it into a coherent visual experience.
My journey has been unconventional, but that is also what defines my approach. I bring together strategy and instinct, fashion and nature, structure and spontaneity. I am still learning and evolving, but I feel I have finally found a language that truly belongs to me.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has definitely not been a completely smooth road. Starting again in a new field after nearly 30 years in a different career meant accepting that experience and seniority do not automatically transfer. I had to become a beginner again, learn the technical and physical side of the work and prove myself from the ground up
There were also practical challenges. I invested time, energy and money in training in Italy, my country and abroad, including a six-month unpaid internship, while building a new professional identity and starting a company from scratch. Working with flowers is physically demanding, highly seasonal and often unpredictable. It requires creativity, but also logistics, budgeting, problem-solving and the ability to make quick decisions under pressure.
One of the biggest struggles has been finding the right position in the market. I did not want to follow the most traditional path of floral design; I wanted to create a language closer to art, fashion and contemporary design. Building recognition for that vision takes time, patience and consistency.
There have been moments of doubt, frustration and disappointment, but each difficulty has made my direction clearer. I am still building, learning and refining my work, and I now see the challenges as an essential part of the journey rather than evidence that I chose the wrong path.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am the founder and creative director of Fleur Milano, a floral design studio specialising in bespoke botanical installations for luxury brands, hotels, events and cultural spaces.
My work goes beyond traditional floral decoration. I approach flowers as a visual and expressive material, creating compositions and installations that are closely connected to architecture, fashion, art and contemporary design. Each project begins with an idea, a space or a brand identity, and is developed as a complete visual experience rather than simply an arrangement of flowers.
I am particularly interested in sculptural forms, unusual botanical materials, seasonality and the contrast between structure and spontaneity. My work is often minimal yet expressive, with a strong attention to shape, movement, proportion and detail. Whenever possible, I use sustainable, foam-free techniques and allow the natural character of each material to remain visible.
What sets me apart is probably the combination of my two professional lives. My background in communication, fashion and luxury allows me to understand a client’s identity and translate it into a coherent creative concept, while floral design gives me the freedom to transform that concept into something tangible, emotional and alive.
I am most proud of having had the courage to begin again and build a new creative language from the ground up. Fleur Milano is still evolving, but every project brings me closer to defining a recognisable approach: one in which flowers are not simply decorative elements, but part of a wider artistic and spatial narrative.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I believe luck plays an important role in both life and business. Being in the right place at the right time, meeting the right person or receiving an unexpected opportunity can certainly change the direction of a career.
At the same time, I believe we have to help luck. Opportunities are easier to recognise and embrace when we have prepared ourselves for them. In my case, changing career required years of experience, study, training, sacrifice and the willingness to start again from the beginning. Luck may open a door, but we still have to be ready to walk through it.
I have experienced both good and bad luck along the way. Some disappointments initially felt like setbacks, but later helped me understand more clearly what kind of work I wanted to pursue and which professional relationships were right for me.
So yes, I believe in luck, but I also believe in curiosity, preparation, perseverance and courage. Very often, what appears to be luck from the outside is the result of a great deal of invisible work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.fleurmilano.com
- Instagram: Fleur_milano
- Facebook: Fleur_milano
- LinkedIn: Fleur Milano
