as a model, is gracious, warm,
self-deprecating and funny. A
Hollywood anecdote is never far
from his lips, but all in good fun.
When you work with the likes of
Oprah, Cher, the Kardashians,
and Tina Turner, life is a bed of
roses … err, orchids.
And that is the key to Leatham’s
success: fun. “I create lasting
memories, and I put smiles on
people’s faces every day,” he
said. “That’s the best part of my
job, from when we do a huge
installation, and people are
amazed by the simplicity and
beauty.”
Leatham’s success is a fairytale
come true. After his modeling
career ended, he went back
to Los Angeles not sure what
he would do next. A friend
mentioned the Four Seasons
Hotel in Beverly Hills was looking
for help with their floral displays
and Leatham, with nary a day
of experience, threw his petals in
the ring. “Before then, I had never
touched a flower, never even
wanted to work with flowers!” he
said. To his great surprise, he was
hired and began designing the
hotel’s lobby and public spaces.
He began experimenting with
positioning, color and style, and
turned heads with his unexpected
creations. “Four Seasons gave
me that whole spectrum: I
started making big, grand flower
installations, so that helped me
be the artist I am today.”
A New Beginning
Leatham’s career exploded in
1999 when he was recruited to
design the lobby of the George
V Hotel Paris, which re-opened
as a Four Seasons after a fiveyear
renovation. His previous work
had so impressed its new owner,
Prince Alwaleed bin
Talal of Saudi Arabia,
who gave Leatham
carte blanche to
design the venerated
Parisian palace as
he saw fit. His work
soon became the
hotel’s signature and
provided the artist
a global stage to
showcase his many
talents. He is known to
use 13,000 stems a
week and has an annual budget
of $1.7 million per year (although
some say it’s virtually unlimited).
Leatham’s work at the George
V has become an attraction
into itself. Scores of visitors walk
through the hotel’s revolving doors
just to peek at his grand displays
in the lobby, courtyard and public
spaces. For the hotel’s 20th
anniversary, he gargantuan black
deers (one of which he stood on
for an Instagram picture).
“I think that’s what I want people
to think of my work as timeless,
bold statements of color and
texture,” he said. “And when
I work there’s a specific style:
flowers leaning out the side of
the vase, for example. I’m lucky
as a designer to have a design
that is characteristic to me and
my personality. In fashion, you
can look at Valentino and say,
‘That’s a Valentino red dress.’ The
fact that you can look at a style
of flowers and say, ‘That’s Jeff
Leatham,’ makes me a lucky
guy.”
Simplicity
The designer keeps everything
clean, simple, and chic (known
in the industry as the “Leatham
Rules of 3”), which means
bunching all of one type of
flower, never mixing more
than three types of flowers or
colors and keeping everything
monochromatic. “For me, the
most important thing is just
July 2020
Polo De’Marco