Very first modelling agency for plants

In Amsterdam the month of April saw the launch of the very first modelling agency for plants: The Plant Agency. This pop-up agency has done what it promised: the lending of plants free of charge, for purposes of inspiring and informing. In one month's time, dozens of stylists, bloggers, (event)producers, editors and other interested parties made use of The Plant Agency. All Houseplants of the Month this year were lent out for photoshoots and productions. The pop-up space was used multiple times as a recording and photo studio by well-established and up-and-coming bloggers and instagrammers. A fun side effect was that the shopping public was also inspired by looking in the shop.

Borrowing plants
Every day there was a constant stream of business relations specifically or spontaneously looking to borrow plants for their own productions and photoshoots. The Plant Agency wanted to make it easy for them to borrow plants for free with this unusual pop-up store. The opening of The Plant Agency was well attended by media partners from the lifestyle, interior design and fashion industries. They were all curious about the shop and its underlying idea. With representatives from the Volkskrant Magazine, Linda, ELLE, ELLE Deco, Parool and Libelle, the kick-off of the pop-up agency was a grand start, and was soon followed by requests from television programmes.

On TV and radio
The Plant Agency appeared on the RTVNH regional news on 6 April 2016, and the show was broadcast nationally the next day on NPO1. The programme Jan rijdt Rond (NPO3) presented an item about The Plant Agency just one day after the opening. A day later RTL Boulevard came to have a look at the shop. In the evening, the entertainment programme devoted 1.5 minutes to The Plant Agency and its underlying philosophy. There was also a lot of interest shown by radio shows, including Radio 2, Radio 5, Qmusic and AmsterdamFM.

Goal achieved
The news - and especially the service - of the first plant loaning agency was quickly picked up by the intended target group. Many stylists and editors dropped in to borrow plants for their productions (online and print), to find inspiration and information about plants as well as flowers. Stylists registered to borrow plants for various events; the launch of the first edition of Vogue Living (interior design magazine), the styling of a shoot for beauty brand Laura Mercier, and the launch of the cookbook from the nutrition coach Laurianne Ruhé. The requests are still coming in, which shows how much demand there is for such an initiative and how 'hot' green is.