Right now, the scents of spring waft down the steps of the Hyatt Hotel Canberra, drawing visitors to enjoy high tea in the company of some interesting and fashionable guests.

Until Tuesday 16 November, blooming gowns occupy the Tea Lounge of one of Canberra’s most historic hotels. These models were brought to life by the budding florists of CIT.

At the tail end of their studies, the floristry students were challenged to design to the theme of Biome, meaning a large, naturally occurring community of flora and fauna. This would be their final obstacle before graduating.

Five ecosystems sprung up in the form of extravagant dresses. Or so it seemed to guests, as the students had spent several weeks knuckling down through lockdown to plan, create, and maintain a living display that would additionally meld with the hotel’s 1920 art deco interiors.

The exhibit was an outstanding success according to Hyatt Hotel General Manager, Adam Myatt, who is eager to have CIT students back next year.

The winning gown, designed by team Leovy and Esther, is placed front and centre as the first thing visitors see. The panel of judges included former CIT teacher, Jodie Cunningham, of Craft ACT.

Leovy, a nurse working to open her own shop, and Esther, a part-timer at Vine Canberra in Kingston, named their dress Resilience – an ode to the hardy Australian flora that came to the rescue when suddenly having to build the dress in lockdown.

“We didn’t have all the materials that would have been available, so we just used what was in our surroundings,” said Leovy.

“The skirt is a common grass, often found stuck in your dog’s fur. It curls when it dries, forming the ball gown. The bodice is mini succulents, roses, dried hydrangeas, paper daisies that you can see everywhere!”

Every material used on the bodice curls down the mannequin’s legs. Her feet are bare in a patch of tall grass.  While Resilience’s contenders used rare and showstopping flowers, the simplicity of the native materials snagged the win.

To her left perches Byan, looking off into the distance. Her designers, Grace and Carrie, had an unusual Biome – the Daintree. “It’s where the rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef… the traditional land of the Kuku Yalanji.”

The coral of the Great Barrier Reef, represented by moss, crashes into the waves and sea spray of baby’s breath, which immediately flows into a heavy train of rainforest foliage that trails across the floor. A green treefrog perches on her ring finger.

Byan means home in the language of the Kuku Yalanji.

When asked how it’s all held together, Grace winked and said, “It’s that floristry magic that we show and don’t tell … I will say that chicken wire is a florist’s best friend.”

“This exhibit really showed how different us florists are,” added her partner, Carrie. “In both style and workmanship.

“Floristry is not just cut and dried,” she smiled.

To the duo Sue and Jo, this project meant even more than that. Their gown was dedicated to their families whom they had both been separated from through the lockdowns.

The use of hydrangeas and pine leaves were Jo’s contribution. “They grow everywhere in my home country, Brazil. The materials I used really reminds me of where I came from.”

For a year now, Sue hasn’t been able to see her Queensland-based family either. “We thought that we would use the bracken and magnolia leaves from where my family lives on the coast.”

Wanting to create a dress that loudly reflects the times, Jo carefully sewed the facemask of paper daisies and pine leaves for her loved ones back home, the final touch on their piece.

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