Chu’s Floral is a blooming flower shop found in the heart of Leeds built on a passion for flowers and nature.
Chu Chen first established Chu’s Floral back in 2021 as an earring designer who made gorgeous handmade earrings, that can still be found in her shop today, and selling expressive flowers at Kirkgate Market. Her enchanting shop opened its doors on Great George Street in 2022 where Chu can create her beautiful bouquets in a larger space, allowing for more innovation throughout her creative process. Years of experience in fashion and floral design have fueled her passion for her art.
Shanghai, China is where it all began for Chu. Here Chu received a bachelor’s degree in fashion design from Donghua University and spent five years as a fashion editor at a Japanese fashion magazine where she developed her skills in marketing and editing. Sheffield is where Chu took her next step and gained a master’s degree in marketing before heading to London to complete a flower course at the London McQueens Flower School.
Chu made the move to Leeds in 2020 and was eager to bring something new to the local community. She wanted to share her deep passion and love for flowers and nature. Chu’s oriental heritage and mix of stylish British designs, allows Chu to provide a unique floral fusion to the Leeds community. Positive feedback and a warm welcome from locals has made Chu feel welcomed as part of the community. Community is important to Chu and so is supporting other local handmade crafters. Alongside her own handcrafted earrings found in her shop, you can also find amazing handcrafted candles and quirky gifts made by other artists and crafters.
From the moment you walk into Chu’s Floral, you are welcomed by a warm atmosphere that reflects Chu’s wonderful personality. Happy, fresh, warm, and friendly are a few words that can be used to describe Chu and her beautiful shop. Her pure love and passion for flowers is perfectly encapsulated in the stunning bouquets she creates and displays.
Chu loves to explore textures and materials whilst learning more about nature and perfecting her craft. Bouquets of fresh and dry flowers are sold within the flower shop, all at fair prices to keep them accessible to everyone in the community. The dry bouquets are mostly dried by Chu herself in an effort to be more eco-friendly. This process allows Chu to captivate the beauty of the flowers forever.
If you share the same passion for flowers, nature, and creativity but are not sure where to begin your floral adventure, Chu’s offers exciting floral arrangement workshops. Previous workshops took place last Halloween and Christmas, which allowed participants to learn how to create themed floral arrangements. For this year, Chu is hoping to begin workshops this Spring and Summer to take advantage of flowers when they are most in bloom and bright. So make sure to keep an eye out for the next upcoming workshop and bag a spot before it’s too late.
Looking further into her future, Chu is looking to take advantage of her skills and become more of a handmade crafter to showcase even more of her talents and designs in her shop, wedding events and any occasions that require floral arrangement. The future of Chu’s Floral will be filled with even more excitement and creativity. Throughout all of her present and future endeavours she plans to ‘Stay Chu to herself’ – a mantra that represents Chu being wholly herself and continuing to be one of a kind.
Images- @chusfloral
