MY LIFE, MY STYLE
Whitney Bromberg Hawkings’
love of flowers is at the heart of her work, her wardrobe and
her elegant London home
With just days to go before the Chelsea Flower Show, Whitney Bromberg Hawkings is sitting in her pristine kitchen in west London, surrounded by clouds of purple hydrangeas, coolly fielding queries from her team. Bromberg Hawkings is the CEO of Flowerbx, the online flower-delivery service she co-founded in 2015, after working for the designer Tom Ford for 19 years. This career change means she can take a relaxed sartorial approach: she is wearing loafers, a pair of old Earl jeans and a Gucci jumper. ‘It’s nice and warm for the early mornings at the Flowerbx warehouse,’ she says. When she was working with Ford, it was another story: ‘I had to be Tom-ready every day of my life, which meant tight leather dresses and open-toed stilettos in December; no boots or trousers just because it was winter. I wasn’t allowed to compromise.’
She shares her stylish Earl’s Court home with her husband Peter, the head of menswear at Tom Ford, and their three children – two school-aged boys, Barron and Snowdon, and a cherubic baby daughter, Wallis. The house reflects the couple’s impeccable taste, with many of the unique pieces of furniture bought on 1stdibs or from early-morning trawls through Kempton Market. There are pendant lamps from Rose Uniacke and Gordon Watson antiques. ‘We didn’t change
anything about our home decor when the kids were born,’ she says. ‘I think that if they grow up around beautiful things, they learn to appreciate and respect them.’ There are two items from the estate sale of their friend, the late interiors master David Collins – a hand-embroidered white stool in the livingroom, and a painting, Tête de Femme, in his signature blue: ‘It was one of his favourite paintings and is a beautiful and constant reminder of him.’
Bromberg Hawkings grew up in Dallas, Texas, but moved to New York at the earliest opportunity to study French literature at Columbia University. ‘I loved my childhood but I didn’t really fit in with the Dallas girls with their big hair and big boobs who just wanted to date the jocks. I preferred the idea of wearing black and smoking cigarettes like the French girls in the magazines that I read.’ Her quest for sophistication led her to Paris, where she worked as an intern at L’Officiel, before landing a job as the assistant to Tom Ford, then the creative director at Gucci. ‘It was a dream come true,’ she says, ‘I actually had those iconic adverts with Amber Valletta in the white dress framed on my wall…’
Their alliance was one that would last for almost 20 years, with Bromberg Hawkings ending up as the senior vice-president of communications at Ford’s eponymous brand. ‘It was hard work, but Tom was an amazing boss because he kept giving me new challenges,’ she says. ‘We launched make-up, then eyewear, then a movie, so it was thrilling for every single minute. I couldn’t have been to a better school for learning the A to Z of building a business.’
Her own light-bulb moment came after years of sending flowers on behalf of Ford, who favoured single-stem bouquets of white peonies. ‘In fact, I noticed that everyone in the fashion industry – from Karl Lagerfeld to Miuccia Prada – sent single-varietal bunches of flowers,’ she says, but that was
almost impossible to find at a florist. ‘Plus, while I shopped at Ocado and Amazon, consistently good flowers were the one thing you couldn’t order online.’ So the idea for Flowerbx was born. She quickly recruited a stellar list of investors including Net-A-Porter’s founder Natalie Massenet and Mark Sebba, the luxury-fashion website’s former CEO, while her infectious energy and meticulous standards won over the most discerning clients, such as Victoria Beckham, Samantha Cameron, Jay Jopling, and naturally, Ford himself. No wonder the brand is looking to expand internationally, with Paris and Munich branches set to open this year.
Her daily uniform is a fusion of Frame denim, Charvet shirts, Francesco Russo shoes, Lisa Eisner jewellery ‘and vintage Mexican dresses from my mother now that the sun is shining’. Of course, she still draws on her thrilling archive of Tom Ford designs, including Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent treasures from his tenure at the two houses. ‘My best-loved piece is probably the most perfectly cut black tuxedo jacket that I have worn, day and night, for the past four years,’ she says. ‘Dressing well has always helped me aim high.’