Meet Steve Salter, the second green-fingered father to feature in our Father’s Day series. As Fashion Features Editor of i-D magazine, it’s safe to say Steve knows a thing or two about style, as does his wife Susie Lau – one of fashion’s most respected voices – and his daughter Nico, who’s arguably the best dressed baby girl we’ve had the pleasure to meet. Steve tells us he’s a flower man. From Raf Simons’ ability to weave flowers (of New Order and Fantin-Latour fame) into his designs, to his favourite stems – we popped over to the Salter-Lau household to talk all things floral...
Are you more of a plant or a flower man?
A flower man. I tend to kill plants if they’re too needy. I guess I have a commitment problem...
Which plants and flowers would we find in your home?
Palms, grasses and agapanthus at home because they’re low maintenance. I try and keep it seasonal when it comes flowers.
What do you associate with the colour green?
Growth, life, renewal, peace.
Are there any plants that remind you of a particular place or moment in your life?
Waratahs remind me of a blissful hike in Blue Mountains and Joshua trees take me back to my happy place.
What’s your most-loved scent?
Nico. She offers an ever changing bouquet of scents, from the sublime to the putrid.
What’s your favourite flower and why?
Bird of paradise because they make even the most mundane spaces magical. They just don’t look real. They’re like an origami crane.
What about any flower or plant-related artwork or fashion pieces, are there any you’re particularly dawn to and why?
Dries Van Noten knows how to integrate flowers into fashion but my favourite current item is a Raf Simons shirt that’s emblazoned with the artwork from New Order’s Power Corruption & Lies album. It’s a still life arrangement painted by Fantin-Latour.
How does receiving flowers make you feel?
Loved.
Why do you think it’s cool to receive flowers?
For me, they’re the ideal gift because they brighten up your life for as long as you care for them and then they’re gone.
What’s your favourite green-hangout in London?
Hampstead Heath for the vastness, Phoenix Gardens for the intimacy.
