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00:00Hey everybody, I am Jeff Latham.
00:07So that is who I am, but most of you know me as The Flower God.
00:12And I am here to dish some flower tea with you.
00:17And you are allowed to ask me any question you like.
00:20Right.
00:21And I will answer as honest as I can.
00:23That's perfect.
00:24This is Dubai and the truth matters.
00:26I love the flower installation there.
00:28It's almost like poetry in motion.
00:30How did you decide on these colors?
00:33Why different shades of pink, red?
00:37So it's shades of orange, hot pink, purples.
00:40I love flowers that have bright colors and passion.
00:45I haven't visited Dubai in quite some time.
00:49But the first night I arrived here, I kind of drove around and I felt like on the street
00:54there's so much color inside of people's personalities in the life.
00:58And I feel like the city has a lot of beige and tans and we need more color in the city.
01:03Right.
01:04I think that people need to be more daring with color.
01:07I want people to walk into this hotel, this beautiful Four Seasons Hotel and think like
01:11excitement and wow, this is amazing.
01:14So I really always want to create something that makes people stop and go wow and want
01:20to look to see what else is happening.
01:22Brilliant.
01:23Jeff, these days AI has threatened our jobs.
01:26When it comes to a florist, do you guys think you're insulated from AI?
01:30I think AI is important to let people dream, but I feel like AI, we have to be careful
01:38with it.
01:39I just had this conversation with a friend yesterday.
01:42Some people that have events, they're bringing photographs of AI of like this ceremony and
01:46this and it's just impossible to create that.
01:49The photo looks amazing.
01:52And so you really have to be careful.
01:53I'm kind of an old school guy.
01:55I'm an old Hollywood type of guy.
01:57I'm most importantly realistic on what I can create and the experience that I can give
02:03someone.
02:04So I think people have to be realistic with the experience and AI, the experience is fake.
02:10As beautiful as it is, we don't be faking all that.
02:13Right.
02:14We need it for our future for certain things, but for design and art, I don't think there's
02:19room for it.
02:20Right.
02:21It could be perfect.
02:22Seriously.
02:23And do you think flowers are still...
02:25You know, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Monet with AI.
02:29I mean, come on, are you guys serious?
02:31And I miss the days when there were no cell phones.
02:36How cute was it when you used to date someone, meet someone out?
02:39Yeah.
02:40You can't ghost anybody.
02:41Play a game on like a matchbook or be like, Hey, I don't know.
02:43It's just like, I love the future and I feel like Dubai is the future.
02:47But I also miss the past.
02:49There's a certain romanticism about the past that I miss.
02:53Do all the stars love you equally?
02:55I know he's worked with the Ambani's, he's worked with Kim K, he's worked with Paris
02:59Hilton, Oprah.
03:00Is there anybody you haven't...
03:02Who has been one star that you're dying to work with, but just hasn't happened yet?
03:08To be perfectly honest, one star that I'm dying to work with, but I haven't yet.
03:14Someone that I probably...
03:15I love...
03:16I know we spoke before.
03:17I love Meryl Streep.
03:19Yes.
03:20A star that I would have liked to have been close with who has passed would probably be
03:24Elizabeth Taylor.
03:26I would have loved to be her go-to florist because she had such a sensibility for luxury,
03:33such a sensibility for beauty and helping people.
03:38Because I'm a true believer, and we spoke before about Starcow.
03:41I feel like people need to help people more now.
03:44These days we're so caught up in fast fashion and fast fame that the idea of being famous
03:52and being a celebrity in the past was to be about helping people, and you would give back.
03:57I feel like people need to do that more.
04:00Elizabeth Taylor would be my dream if I would, but my phone is full of amazing people.
04:06I mean, should we call Cher right now?
04:08Oh my God.
04:10And Manish Malhotra is just coming in as well.
04:13He's designed his outfit.
04:14What's the deal?
04:15Are you in a Bollywood movie soon?
04:16What's the deal?
04:17I mean, I would love to be.
04:18What's the tea here?
04:19This is Manish's outfit.
04:20I truly believe this man, the reason why I love him is because he reminds me of myself.
04:25He loves his art, but he also has a kind heart.
04:28You need to tell me, was there a tough celebrity that you thought you had to convince them?
04:32Not a tough one.
04:33They all have strong likes and dislikes.
04:35I would hate roses on my wedding.
04:37I've never had to convince one of my celebrity clientele because they come to me out of trust
04:44and as most importantly as a friend.
04:46Oh, I see.
04:47I see.
04:48And brilliant.
04:49And what's next for you?
04:51What is next for me is the holidays soon.
04:54And Christmas is my favorite time of the year because I do not use flowers.
04:58I'm able to be a creative with my holiday decoration and with what I created in New
05:05York and Philadelphia and Beverly Hills.
05:09And I'm mostly in Paris.
05:11I'm so lucky to have an office in Paris.
05:15And just excited for whatever my next project is.
05:18I'm one of those artists that just like my worst nightmare is repetition.
05:23So I'm always having to re-embed this.
05:26I'm like the Mel Madonna in that way.
05:28In my industry, I don't look at social media like what other people are doing because you
05:34get caught up in that world of like, what should I be doing, not what I have to do in
05:39the future.
05:40Right.
05:41So I have to look to my future because not only for me, but for my staff.
05:44And we have a big responsibility because we have helped change the way people look at
05:48flowers in the world.
05:50And we have to continue that.
05:51There are many people who have now discarded flowers.
05:53They said, get me books, get me an iPad instead.
05:57What do you have to say to people who don't think flowers are the currency and move on?
06:01Buy me a book.
06:02I don't want flowers.
06:04I'll take the book.
06:05Okay, I'll take the book.
06:06Give me the flowers.
06:07Yeah, yeah, you do.
06:08Other people give you flowers.
06:09You want to give flowers because what flowers do is it creates an immediate memory in your
06:16senses.
06:17If someone sends you, even if it's a flower you don't like, the color is an automatic
06:22register into your system.
06:24They were pink, they were yellow, they were red, they were white.
06:27You remember it.
06:28You remember the day.
06:29You remember what they were for.
06:30Books can do that.
06:31So if you want to create a memory, give flowers.
06:33Brilliant.
06:34On that note, thank you for giving me such a great memory.
06:37Excellent.
06:38Ciao.
06:39Thank you so much.
06:40Such a pleasure.