Color Is in Full Bloom for Floral Designer Maurice Harris

For Maurice Harris, nature’s own palette provides the best inspiration. The floral designer, artist, and entrepreneur weaves together exquisitely colorful arrangements—one bloom at a time.

Feeling the design itch from an early age, Maurice sought out creative outlets to nurture his artistic proclivity. "I’ve always had a knack for design ever since I was seven or eight," Maurice shares from his studio. "I was moving around my parents’ furniture as a kid trying to make the best composition," he says as he skillfully assembles an arrangement to pop against the Porsche x Backdrop Riviera Blue walls. "The essence of design is composition—moving things around. That’s what drew me to flowers."

Honing his artistic point of view through jobs in design and fashion, Maurice got into window display—landing jobs with Barneys and Juicy Couture. Although he had an affinity for flowers, it never dawned on him to make it a career path. "I kind of fell into floral design," Maurice explains to Backdrop co-founder Natalie Ebel at his shop. "I loved playing with flowers. I used to watch my grandmother make flower arrangements when I was a little kid. So I think there was always a knack there." What started as a knack eventually became a full-fledged passion, with Maurice opening Bloom & Plume in Los Angeles’ Echo Park.