On a rainy Thursday night in mid-October, the kind of rain flowers love, guests wearing their favorite florals shuffled into the Garfield Park Conservatory for the fifteenth iteration of FLEUROTICA, a fashion show benefiting the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance, and the park’s education and outreach efforts in particular. With champagne in one hand and edible flower appetizers in the other, people oohed and aahed as models dressed in head-to-toe natural blooms strutted down Horticulture Hall.
For years, FLEUROTICA has showcased some of the most talented floral designers in the city. It has become one of the most highly coveted events during Chicago Fashion Week, with this year’s tickets selling out in under two minutes. Tickets for the livestream were sold at $225. And many conversations in the crowd revolved around how many years its guests took to finally attend FLEUROTICA, a runway show that has grown its reputation to be rich in artistry, invention, and story-telling.
Left: FLEUROTICA model wearing Ramirez’s 2026 design featuring marigolds at the Garfield Park Conservatory on Oct. 15, 2026. Right: For Ramirez, details in a look are just as important and for this year’s look, she used natural marigolds for the earrings featured at FLUEROTICA on Oct. 15, 2026, in the Garfield Park Conservatory. Credits: Odalys Ramirez
Dancers from Ruth Page Center for the Arts began the evening, pirouetting across the greenhouse’s concrete floor. After a live fundraising auction for the Conservatory, the lights dimmed and the music commenced. FLEUROTICA’s co-chairs Erika Summers and Dr. Pamela Blackman emphasized that while attendees would be watching a fashion show, the looks to follow had been created by incredibly creative florists.
Starting at 10 that morning, 18 floral designers from across Chicago gathered in the West Side’s not-so-hidden sparkling jewel, the Conservatory. They had until 7 that evening, call time, to put together their looks from natural flowers. Preparation had begun months earlier—interested designers applied for a limited number of spots. Once selected, they sketched their designs and built structural foundations capable of holding pounds of flowers and greenery.
One of the looks that night featured cempasúchil, known as Mexican marigolds, which cascaded from the right hip of a sculptural two-piece body-con look made of dark green foliage. The marigold-orange flowers swayed against the forest green silhouette as the model moved down the runway. On the opposite side, a floral handbag crafted from the same cempasúchil balanced the look’s botanical drama, while dangling earrings completed the ensemble.
More than a fashion ode to el Día de los Muertos—Day of the Dead, which takes place late October early November—the cempasúchil look celebrated the cultural roots and community of its creator, Odalys Ramirez.
For Ramírez, this was her second year competing. “I would have never imagined I could be in this place,” the 29-year-old floral designer said. “They called me back for a reason.”
The South Sider built on the look she created the previous year: a corn husk dress adorned with details tied to her Mexican identity, including dahlias—Mexico’s national flower.
The meanings behind Ramirez’s work often extend beyond cultural celebration. During last year’s show, her heart was with her community as Operation Midway Blitz brought intensified immigration enforcement to Midway and Latine communities across the city. Last year’s look revolved around a corn husk layered structured midi dress. Across the bodice laid a sash with bouncy greenery, pink dahlias, and red roses. The same red were the chiles serrano that dangled from the model’s earlobe. Before walking down, the model took the rosary made out of raw pinto beans, interlaced it around her hand, and made the sign of the cross.
This year, she returned with another look shaped by that reality by using marigolds, a prominent flower utilized during Día de los Muertos to create ofrendas, offerings of food and flowers placed on altars to commemorate loved ones who died. The smell and vibrancy of the marigolds guide our deceased home, and in a way Ramirez was guiding the dead home too. During this administration alone, there have been more than 60 deaths in ICE custody.
“I was doing it more with a little sadness in my heart,” Ramirez said.
Her inspiration began where the soil meets the sun, in Zacatecas, Mexico, among the maize.
“I do remember going every year to Mexico and being in the milpas, and that’s where they grow corn, beans, squash, other chiles, and then I was like, ‘oh, maybe I can start with tamal leaves,’” Ramirez said.
In the corn fields, Ramirez flashed back to news reports of ICE raids in agricultural fields, and thought there was no better stage than FLEUROTICA for making a statement through her artistry.
Looking back, she says her love for floral design began with Jewel Osco’s three flower bundles for $15. After returning to Chicago from living in California, Ramirez found her way to flowers, drawing inspiration from her inheritance. She began arranging flowers for her mother and sister, single mothers whose determination deeply motivated Ramirez to the point of creation. They became a source of inspiration for Ramirez, shaping the way she not only approached her work, but also what she wanted her flowers to say.
“The wrapping, the presentation that comes with it. I just wanted to touch someone,” Ramirez said.
Working out of her attic, Ramirez began turning bundles of flowers into arrangements and bouquets. The women in her life, including her sister, pushed her to take her work beyond the walls of home and offer her services to the public. This would be the start of “The Flower Dealer,” Ramirez’s professional alias and Instagram handle.
“I went through the holidays. I noticed that I outgrew my space. I needed actual space to work from, whether it was a studio or a location,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez kept noticing a vacant storefront on her drive to Home Depot, her other place of employment.
“It was empty for so long, and it was making me [question] why is this place vacant?” she recalled.
When she told her sister, Anakaren (AK) Ramirez, there was no hesitation. They called up their realtor and took a look at the storefront situated on 55th Street and Kenneth Avenue, formerly a COVID testing site. Together the sisters opened SRVD (pronounced served) Floral Lounge in 2024.
“I just love working with her,” Ramirez said, referring to her sister AK.
Top Left: Florist Odalys Ramirez creates a base for a floral design at SRVD Floral Lounge in Chicago’s West Elsdon neighborhood on Oct. 10, 2026, ahead of the Fleurotica 2026 fashion show. Top Right: Odalys Ramirez stands behind a worktable with marigolds at SRVD Floral Lounge in Chicago’s West Elsdon neighborhood on Oct. 10, 2026, as she prepares for Fleurotica 2026. Middle Right: A close up of florist Odalys Ramirez’s hands as she works with orange flowers at SRVD Floral Lounge in Chicago’s West Elsdon neighborhood on Oct. 10, 2026, while preparing designs for the Fleurotica 2026 floral fashion show. Bottom: Florist Odalys Ramirez places a leaf on a mannequin at SRVD Floral Lounge in Chicago’s West Elsdon neighborhood on Oct. 10, 2026, while developing floral designs for the Fleurotica 2026 fashion show. Credits: Gabriel Valerio
For the past two years, AK has been by her side during FLEUROTICA: stringing marigolds, taking behind the scenes pictures, and organizing a livestream viewing party the day of the runway show at SRVD.
Submitting her first application to FLEUROTICA just felt right. Ramirez grew up watching the reality TV competition show Project Runway, so when multiple people began to send her the application, she took the leap.
Since SRVD’s opening, the space has been host to a variety of events, coffee shop residency pop-ups, photo shoots and AK’s own cannabis friendly book club and run club meetings. The brick-and-motor space functions as more than Ramirez’s work studio and storefront; the split design allows the two to welcome the community constantly. In the past two years, Ramirez has seen neighbors slowly trickle in, curious about what’s inside.
“They were thinking it was maybe a dispensary,” Ramirez said with a smile.
Ramirez confirms that the alias and lounge name is rooted in love for the plant, which she shares with AK, a prominent cannabis advocate in Chicago.
“We are consumers of cannabis, and when we’re consuming, we’re just creating,” Ramirez said. “It was like serving flower, but people think it’s other flower, and it’s just beautiful flowers.”
The interior of SRVD was designed by Ramirez drawing from her job at Home Depot. Her work desk and table are built on cylinder blocks, and there is a concrete peg board DIY’d by Ramirez that holds shelving for pots and vases.
“I wanted to create a space where it’s muted a little bit, and then let the flowers be the colors,” Ramirez said.
At SRVD, as on the runway, Ramirez creates the setting for flowers to tell their story.
For the last walk of the runway, Ramirez took her model’s hand and the other held the cempasúchil purse. With a smile and a hint of timidness, Ramirez strutted down FLEUROTICA with her creation by her side.
Jocelyn Martinez-Rosales is a Mexican American independent journalist from Belmont Cragin covering music and culture. She is also a senior editor at the Weekly.