Breaking biases: First these M’sian men started a florist biz, now they’re making jewellery

Breaking biases: First these M’sian men started a florist biz, now they’re making jewellery

It’s not often that you come across a floral business being run by two men.

It’s less often to hear them use that as a marketing gimmick.

Coming across a jewellery brand called Etereal by ForLove, I was wowed by their enchanting floral pieces, which were all made with real flowers.

It’s true that using real flowers in resin jewellery isn’t rare nowadays, with other players being The Petal Archive and Twenty4.my, just to name two. However, I found Etereal’s pieces to be more unique as they seem to be dipped in resin, rather than completely encased in an pendant of resin.

Image Credit: Etereal by ForLove

But more than that, it was the founders behind the business that made the brand particularly interesting.

Planting a business together

Etereal by ForLove is founded by Bryan Wong Kah Weng and Fredrick Chew Ker Ning, who are longtime friends with different educational backgrounds.

While Bryan’s Bachelor’s degree is in marketing, Fredrick pursued agricultural science.

The commonality between them, though, was their interest in plants.

As plant lovers, they saw the potential demand for floristry services and were keen to venture into the art of floristry. Thus, in 2020, they founded ForLove Florist together.

Starting out as an online business, ForLove offered simple flower bouquets.

Image Credit: Etereal by ForLove

“As our business grew, we started to venture into offline business and took part in bazaars,” they explained. “People were amazed after knowing our business was owned by two men, as most of the time flower shops are owned by women.”

Instead of being discouraged by people’s reactions and stereotypes, they took it as a perk and a new marketing strategy.

When visiting ForLove Florist’s Instagram account, you’ll notice that it says right there in their biography that it’s “a florist shop that owned by two men”. The same slogan is also used in many of their posts and on their photographs.

“We want to break the common bias that only women can do fine and delicate work,” they shared. “These days, anyone can do what they enjoy as long as they are passionate and dedicated to their jobs.”

Growing into jewellery

In July 2023, Bryan and Fredrick came across some content on XiaoHongShu, a popular Chinese-centric social media app.

Here, they saw people turning dried flowers into floral earrings. Amazed by the possibility of turning something so delicate into wearable art, they decided to try it out themselves.

Image Credit: Etereal by ForLove

Using their own real flowers, they learnt how to create the jewellery by watching videos online.

They brought their first batch of trial jewellery at a physical bazaar and managed to get some good results.

“We started shifting from selling flowers to sell real flower accessories and jewelleries, as the competition of florist industry was rising while there were only few real flower accessories and jewellery creators in Malaysia,” they explained.

Sprouting one-of-a-kind pieces

To create a real flower accessory and jewellery, the team starts by visualising the design of a fashion accessory.

Image Credit: Etereal by ForLove

From there, they pick out flowers which are then coated with UV resin. Once cured under a UV light, they will become hard and relatively durable, but the founders advise customers to handle and care for them delicately without any pressing force.

As for the metal components, Etereal mainly uses stainless steel or 14k gold coated accessories that are generally hypoallergenic.

It can take them anywhere between 30 minutes to two hours to make a piece of jewelery.

As the jewellery is made using real flowers with their own shapes and quirks, that means that each of them is unique, as a complete replica is impossible.

“Yet, we will match each pair of earrings with nearly matching flowers and leaves as well as possible,” they assured.

As for the pricing of their accessories, it costs between RM20 to RM59.

Keeping business in bloom

Image Credit: Etereal by ForLove

Since starting Etereal in July 2023, Bryan and Fredrick have sold more than 500 pieces of their real flower accessories.

Rather than demand, an issue for them is the supply. As each of their products are handmade, it’s difficult to keep productivity high for the accessories and jewellery, especially given the delicate nature of the product.

“For sure, we are planning to increase our production through hiring additional manpower,” they shared.

Aside from upping their capacity, Etereal plans to open a kiosk to display their products as well, so they can display their products for a longer term compared to bazaars and pop-up shops.

The duo also has ambitions of establishing a studio where the public can learn how real flower accessories are made.

“We do believe that flowers will bring happiness to one’s daily lives,” Bryan and Fredrick expressed.

And they’re not going to let gender roles and stereotypes dictate otherwise.

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Featured Image Credit: Etereal by ForLove