Welcome to our Magical Moving Garden
Krewe des Fleurs is a NOLA-based costume and performance collective. When we’re not parading, we share creative and inspiring ideas from around the world on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
Each year, our members build larger than life costumes in the image of a different flower, designed as one blank prototype and brought to life through their imagination and inspiration. Each chooses her own color scheme and embellishments to make her flower her own.
In 2015 (our inaugural year) we paraded as the Gilded Lilies. Our second year, we hit the route as Radical Roses. 2017 brought out a familiar Louisiana flower, the Iris, chosen to pay homage to Krewe of Iris’s 100 year anniversary. In 2018, we upped our costume game with Orchids, each flower seen on the route was the product of each member’s imagination, hard work, and dedication to costumery. For 2019, we debuted our new varietal, the Bleeding Heart, on January 6, AKA: 12th Night or Epiphany. This design features an all new silhouette for Krewe des Fleurs that includes a multi-flower design on an asymmetrical vine! 2020 welcomed our largest palette yet with the Passion Flower. This was also the year that we started working with some new materials that in turn, produced more durable and longer-lasting costumes. For the 2020-2021 season, we took the time during the Covid-19 Pandemic to focus on nurturing our existing garden and reworking and rebuilding our lily and iris costumes. In 2022, we revealed a flower that is known for growing in a wide variety of climates and circumstances, the Lotus, as an ode to all of us having collectively come through a very tough time. 2023 we brought back a reimagined blast from the past the Lily.
We are excited to debut a new flower in 2024 on Twelfth Night, January 6th at the gates of Louis Armstrong Park! Mark your calendar.
When we’re not in “full Fleur” you’ll see us around town in giant floral headdresses, designed and built by each member.
Our approach to leadership is collaborative. The Captain Team is known as Gilda Lily:
President: Leslie Lewis; Vice President: Mindie Kairdolf; Secretary: Ashley Lownik; PR & Marketing: Madeleine Briscoe; Treasurer: Shannon Atwater; Founder & Creative Director: Laura Dean-Shapiro
Our Commitment to Support Local Artists
In our first three years, we worked with Katherine Champagne (Sugarcane Costumes) to design and create each magnificent flower. Katie then worked with each members to see her own version and vision realized. Today, she is focused on individual costume projects and other artistic ventures.
We began working with Dana Beuhler in the Spring of 2017. Dana is a veteran sculptor who has worked with the big dogs of carnival for more than a decade. A expert designer, Dana splits her creative time between movie sets and her studio in Broadmoor. Dana supports our green-MG values by utilizing a Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) paper vendor, Mac Papers (www.macpapers.com), and low VOC paints and other supplies. You can own one of Dana’s pro flowers! Check out her work at Miette- 2038 Magazine St.
Our 2020 flower was designed by Emily Stein, a NOLA-local visual artist, and teacher. Emily introduced us to several new techniques and materials that encouraged members to embrace their creativity and imagination. The results are stunning. You can follow her Instagram HERE to learn more about her work and contact her for direct commissions.
The 2023 season featured a fresh take on an enchanting flower beloved to Louisiana the Lily. The design process for this year’s varietal was again managed by artist Lindsay DeBlieux, a veteran member of the collective. Our 2022 varietal was fabricated by the brilliant Lindsay DeBlieux as well. Lindsay is a New Orleans native Mardi Gras artist and a proud member of Krewe des Fleurs since 2017. She works with two local float decorating companies painting a mix of floats, props, and flowers. In the last year with the house float phenomenon, she has ventured into small sculptural (mostly floral) designs, paper mâché, paper float flowers, and painting wood cutouts. A few of her house float designs and work for the Krewe of Red Beans Hire A Mardi Gras Artist initiative have been featured in print and have been displayed at the Contemporary Art Center in the weeks following Mardi Gras 2021. Born and raised in New Orleans, Lindsay left for Austin, Texas after Hurricane Katrina where she finished her BFA with a concentration in painting in 2012. She immediately moved back home. She currently lives with her husband and two sons in Chalmette, La. Contact Lindsay for commission requests via email at ljcdeblieux@gmail.com.
