Pastel Blómastúdíó

Sigrún and Elín met while working together in retail in Iceland, in 2015. They later parted ways with but met up for a drink one evening 3 years later, and were discussing their hopes and aspirations for the future when both of them mentioned having a dream of having a flower shop. Sigrún had never made a flower arrangement but Elíns father is gardener in the north of Iceland, so she had some knowledge in the field already.

One evening Sigrún was browsing through instagram and came across a short course with a floral stylist based in Copenhagen. They bought tickets to Denmark that same evening.

You girls met while both working in retail in Iceland, but you both have a pretty broad experience before joining together to create Pastel Blómastúdíó (literally translates; ‘Pastel Flower Studio’), did having retail experience help you set up your company?

It definitely helped having retail experience, for example when communicating with customers and buyers, and also with the small everyday tasks you need to take care of when working at a storefront. However, there are so many things we’ve had to learn by trial and error.

What is like setting up your own company and studio from scratch? And also in such a small country like Iceland?

From the beginning we have agreed on taking it one step at the time and to go slowly instead of taking too many risks. We worked from our homes in the first few months and were very lucky when we got the opportunity to sell our bouquets in a beautiful designer store in the city center (Norr11, Reykjavík). We didn’t open up the studio space until last September. We have learned a lot since we started out. Living on an island has for example has proven to be a bit frustrating when it comes to importing materials and taxes are very high when you do. 

Sigrún, having had your own online vintage shop in Berlin, do you feel people shop differently online and in a shop? Do you enjoy more interacting with customers and clients who stock your bouquets?

S: It’s a bit hard to compare the shopping behavior because the businesses are different but I can say that I do love it much more interacting with people. In this case I would always chose having a shop over selling flowers and arrangements online. We are so passionate about what we are doing and we hope that people feel that when visiting our studio. We really want the service to be a part of the experience.

Elín, what kind of fashion background do you have? Do you feel this background has helped you towards making this business work?

E: I’ve worked for different retail stores throughout the years, which is without a doubt helpful when running a store on a daily basis and has given me a valuable experience in paying attention to details. I finished a degree in art history and visual culture which is no less beneficial for both the marketing aspects of our business and the creative work behind it and the products.

Do you each play your own role with the company or do you both do a bit of everything? Is one more creatively inclined and the other possibly takes care of the finances etc.?

With the creative part we both do a bit of everything. We’re both equally involved in the creative vision of the company, marketing and creation of our products. Other things we try to delegate between the two of us and after a while our different strengths have started to become clearer so we each now have certain tasks within the business.

Being friends before going into business together, has this helped? Have there been any surprises in regards to this along the way, or do you have to separate your friendship from the business?

Before we went to Copenhagen we were more like acquaintances, we didn’t know each other that well but now we are much closer friends. There are many things that makes us a strong team which we had no idea about and we believe are a vital part of the business today. We are both ambitious and not afraid of hard work and we share similar aesthetics and ways of thinking. We’ve both worked other jobs alongside starting up the studio, so there have definitely been times where we’ve been under pressure but we both are pretty easygoing by nature. We know that Pastel wouldn’t exist without each other and we always respect each others opinions. 

You said you guys went abroad to Copenhagen for a course in flower arranging specialising in dried flowers, did you find that helpful? Do you think more people should do short skills based courses as apposed to big expensive university degrees?

In Iceland there is one school where you can study floristry for a degree. We look up to and highly respect the important work that has been done there. It is very important to keep professional methods within the florist industry. We have not yet found a floristry school (in Iceland or abroad) where we feel we would learn the techniques and aesthetic way of thinking which aligns with ours, which is why we have felt it works better for us to take smaller courses and slowly build and strengthen our skills according to our needs.

How do you feel people have received it well that you are two women going into business? Do you feel like it’s easier now to be taken seriously as businesswomen or have you met any hindrances?

Most people have been very supportive and even excited for what we are doing. We feel like our gender has not hindered us, it’s more what we are working with which makes some people not think of us as a serious business. Even though we are working with pretty material there is hard work and thought behind our creation. When someone calls our business “cute” or “a fun hobby”  it only makes us more determined.

Sigrún, do you feel like being a mother helps you with your business and work? (Assuming some or most people would find being a mother with your own business would be extremely hard, to impossible.) 

S: Being a parent, working a daytime job plus starting a business means you have to organize your time very carefully. Since we started things have been quite hectic to say the least but I’m grateful for the help and support of my family. I hope that my daughter will be proud of me when she grows older and that it will inspire her to not be afraid to do things her own way. 

Do you guys plan ahead before each season when you make your bouquets and arrangements? 

We have been going with our intuition when ordering material and planning our bouquets and projects, up until this Christmas season. This is Pastel’s first Christmas season and we quickly realised we have to be way more organised when planning each season. Mostly to keep our sanity in check and stress levels down.

And where do you get inspiration from? Color wise and for new types of arrangements etc?

We’re both interested in fashion and art and those are probably the biggest sources of inspiration for us. We also follow what’s happening in the floral industry around the world and there are many super talented florists out there who we look to for inspiration.

Does Pastel have any exciting things planned in the new year or anything we should keep our eyes peeled out for?

We only started out a year ago and things have gone a bit faster than we were counting on. We have many ideas that we still haven’t had the time to make happen so there is much more coming in the new year.

Words by Lilja Hrönn.
Photography by María Rúnars.