At just 20 years old, Victoria Subero did not set out to reinvent the bouquet. She wanted to change how flowers were sold and who felt invited to buy them. Opening Flowers of Surfers Paradise on Orchid Avenue in August, the Griffith University law student approached the category through a fashion lens via social media and branding. “What felt outdated to me wasn’t the flowers. It was the marketing,” she told Inside Retail.

Subero identified an opportunity among Gen Z and millennial shoppers interested in art and fashion, but unconvinced that traditional florists spoke to them. She believed the barrier was presentation rather than a lack of interest in flowers themselves. “The gap was never desire, it was the way in,” she said. Although her proposition was initially generational, she stressed that the shop welcomed anyone who responded to its aesthetic, regardless of age.

Her idea was to treat bouquets like luxury accessories, connecting the flowers, photography, packaging, website and store through one creative direction. “What if an arrangement wasn’t just flowers but something closer to an accessory, something that goes with what you’re wearing and how you want the day to look?” she said. The business’s current offering ranges from products below $100 to a flagship arrangement priced at just under $1500. A six-piece House Collection expresses the brand’s core aesthetic.

Flowers of Surfers Paradise was also a family undertaking. Subero developed the website with her brother, a professional developer, while her father handled finances and her mother, an experienced florist, joined her at the flower markets and supplied the technical expertise behind the arrangements.

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