Gardeners in general are not particularly fashion-forward. We may think we’re hip enough with our uniforms of linen button-downs and worn-in jeans and Blundstone boots, but can these outfits go from “day to night,” as fashion editors like to say? We’re going to go out on a limb and say, No.
If there’s anyone who can change the sorry state of gardenwear, it’s Rozae Nichols, a clothing designer with major fashion chops (her vegan label, Clover Canyon, once attracted a celebrity fanbase that included Beyonce, Natalie Portman, and Michelle Obama). An LA native, Rozae launched Flora Animalia six years ago to bridge the yawning gap between workwear and fashion. Her designs prioritize comfort and durability but not at the expense of a chic silhouette—which means one could wear her pieces for a morning of weeding OR an afternoon of gallery-hopping. And she uses only clean-crop Belgian linens and GOTS-certified organic cotton, all sewn in her LA studio. (A plant and animal lover, Rozae donates a portion of revenues to its nonprofit allies Mercy For Animals and Farm Sanctuary.)
Interestingly, what initially drew us to Flora Animalia wasn’t the clothing, but rather the garden Rozae planted in the courtyard of its first location (which, come to think of it, was very on-brand for us). “After years of feeling so weary and saddened by our increasing broken food system, I wanted to create an edible garden,” she tells us. “The garden was a path towards my ever-increasing passion to continue learning about ways in which we can all help to improve this system and counter the impacts of modern agriculture and sustain a healthy ecosystem.”
Flora Animalia has since relocated to, fittingly, Gardner Street in West Hollywood. Rozae misses her old courtyard garden, but she’s ready to put down some roots again: “This early spring, I will build a new raised-bed edible garden for our Flora Animalia studio and storefront.” We can’t wait to see it.
Photography courtesy of Rozae Nichols.
Your first garden memory:
As a child, we lived in various batwing style apartments that were surrounded by concrete and asphalt, sometimes dotted by dehydrated, overgrown bird of paradise and “bottlebrush” plants. [I remember marveling] at the plants and insects from a neighbor’s modest garden of monotonous waxy shrubs, hibiscus ,and geraniums. It was there that I often returned to scout furry black caterpillars I found crawling amongst the red geraniums, enamored by the intoxicating aromas of their fuzzy, scented leaves. To this day, besides the Japanese shiso leaf, my favorite herb scent remains geranium—rose geranium, in particular. I grow it as a companion plant, always close to fruit and vegetables since it’s one of nature’s anti-bacterial species and repels plant-munching beetles and other hungry insects.
