We love and appreciate getting to be creative at work everyday - what does a normal 'work' day look like at Lora Gene for you?

Ha, that’s a good question because “normal’’ is really not a word that I would use for my days. I wake up around 8 and end up working all day, especially now when kids are back to school (I have a 4-year-old girl). My day is a full day that is filled with many ideas and responsibilities and it could start with choosing between fabric swatches to finalising bills of materials and monthly accounts. It’s usually busy and hectic but I enjoy it and I like the everyday challenges of the creative business life.

I adore flowers, I have a vivid memory of 7 year-old me going to school every day where there was a permanent flower market on the way, so some of the florists would give me broken flowers they couldn’t sell. I think these things stay with us and reflect in our creative nature later in life.

Why Roses in particular? I don’t really know, but considering Bulgaria is called the land of the roses, I might have it in the genes. I love the white rose because its scent is much more subtle and luxurious.

When working on our collaboration bouquet, which highlights a beautiful rose, we discovered that you attend the annual rose harvest in Bulgaria, which sounds amazing - can you describe the event, and any fond memories you have?

Yes, we do this every year. In fact, I went there a couple of months ago, in May, when the harvest takes place. It’s really a magical happening, the harvest of the oil-bearing roses starts very early in the morning, because this is the time when the flower has most of its oil still in the stamen.

So, we wake up around 4 am and aim to be in the fields pretty much at 4.30 am so we can harvest as much as possible for the day.

It is really incredible to see the sunrise among vast fields of roses that fill all your senses with their strong aroma…It's difficult to describe it, it definitely should be experienced. The old Bulgarians believe this is when the spirits come to smell the flowers.

Can you tell us about your design process?

I think I take design inspiration from the women I create for. I often catch myself looking at the woman in the supermarket, or the mum at the playground, or the woman on the street.

I also love going back to movies from the 50s and researching eternal icon’s daily outfits - like Bridgette Bardot, Audrey Hepburn, Katherine Hepburn. One of my all time-favourites is Jane Birkin, her style is impeccable.

The wardrobe Lora Gene is aiming to create is really about how women live their best lives. It is a collection aimed to provide comfort to the modern woman without further objectifying her to standards and norms. Colours are usually somehow inspired by trends, but I always keep my favourites in, like green in different hues.

Tell us about the addition of your beauty range to Lora Gene, what’s available and expand on some of the ingredients & benefits?

With Gene in a Bottle, we wanted to focus on a few simple products that are universal and could really improve every skin type. We have a range of floral waters like the rose waters, we have a cleanser that is actually quite unique because it’s a Micellar water with white rose oil, the first ever on the market. We have a body oil which is also incredible, and it is made of 12 natural oils blended in one formula and you can use it on hair and nails and dry patches of the skin. We are also about to introduce the face oils range which is my personal favourite.

All ingredients are natural and most of them are made in Bulgaria by our partnering distillery, we don’t dilute them, and they are all made of naturally grown flowers and herbs. The most unique ingredient we have is of course the rose oil which is essentially what we call the ‘’gene’’.

Bulgarians have made the finest rose oil in the world for centuries, the rose valley is now officially a PGI protected area (like Champagne) and we are really privileged to be able to spread the word and provide people with genuine rose oil products.

We both make use of natural products and materials in what we do - what are your favourite fabrics to work with and why?

My favourite material has always been silk. It is a future-proof material in sustainability terms, because it is very durable and incredibly strong but also it is made from one of the poorest regions on the planet. It’s also a material that provides ultimate comfort to the wearer.

I also love working with yarns because it is a completely different way of designing and thinking in terms of ‘’stitches’’ rather than ‘’cuts’’.

When buying flowers, what are your personal go-to options for styling your home?

Since I have found you, Shida will be my personal go-to option, because I adore flowers in my home, but I hate the waste that comes along with the fresh bouquet every week.