Rising Stars: Meet Sean Knibb of Venice

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Knibb.

Hi Sean, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I got here by listening first to the gardens I grew up around, and then to the culture I was immersed in. I was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where my grandmother was a celebrated florist, and I grew up in California during a time when skateboarding, punk, and surf culture were shaping what rebellion looked like. That contrast between formal beauty and street energy never left me. It became the foundation of how I see design something that doesn’t conform but still carries deep intention.

I’ve been lucky to work across landscapes, interiors, and hospitality, but for the past 10 years, Flowerboy was the heart of it. It was a studio, a shop, a coffee spot, and a place that held space for creativity, community, and care. We’re closing the physical space in Venice now, but the brand lives on in spirit. To me, it was always more than a store it was an experiment in hospitality and storytelling through objects, flowers, and connection.

At the same time, I’ve continued to design gardens and build spaces like The Line hotel and other projects that let me ask: What does it mean to feel grounded? What does it mean to belong in a space? I’m interested in how materials and the built environment can speak to who we are right now how they can reflect climate, culture, and identity in real time. I want the spaces I build to feel alive and relevant not just beautiful, but meaningful.

So I guess where I am today is telling stories for brands, for individuals through landscapes and interiors that are designed to make people feel something real.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of the biggest challenges for me has been moving fluidly between disciplines starting with furniture design, then stepping into landscape architecture/design, commercial interiors, and eventually large-scale retail environments. Each transition required finding the right projects that could act as bridges, allowing me to grow while still staying true to my point of view.

Another major challenge is navigating the current creative landscape, where there’s a growing homogenization of imagery. So much of what we see today is repetition, algorithm driven trends and aesthetics that flatten individuality. As a designer, I’m constantly trying to stay on the edge, to find and express the subtle cues in culture that are often overlooked. But those kinds of projects and those kinds of collaborators are increasingly rare. That’s the challenge my team and I face now, to keep carving out space for nuance, originality, and deeper storytelling in a world that’s moving fast and often favors the familiar.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
What I’m most proud of isn’t one single project it’s the through line across everything I do. Whether it’s a garden, an interior, or a brand experience, what sets my work apart is the way we tell stories through space and material. I come from garden design, so my lens has always been rooted in nature not in chasing the most expensive or flashy material, but in asking: What does this texture say? Where does it belong? How does it make you feel?

I’m proud of the way my team and I can move between disciplines and still hold on to that core idea creating environments that carry meaning. It’s not about interior or exterior, it’s about emotion, memory, place. That’s the heart of what we do, shaping space so people feel something real, something lasting.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
My two boys, Louis & Hendrix… because they are the future

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.Knibbdesign.com
• Instagram: Knibbdesign

Image Credits
Art Gray