French Designer Plans to Send ‘Space Rose’ into Orbit

He is a “dream catcher” in his own words. It is difficult to define Benoît Miniou, founder of the Victor Workshops with whom he has been ambitiously materializing the dreams of his wealthy clients for fifteen years into moments or objects.

“People come to me to create objects or experiences that will mark an anniversary, a birth, a marriage proposal. So, I dig deep into the heart, the soul, to bring out desires, wishes, dreams that people and institutions are not aware of. That is why I have no store, no website. I don’t want to be polluted by something I have already done. And this allows me to make people understand that they have the right to dream,” reveals this former director at Hermès, with experience at several luxury houses, who is about to fulfill for the first time a wish from his imagination: sending the Princess of Monaco rose into space.

A project at the intersection of poetry and extravagance to highlight this flower named in honor of Princess Grace in 1981. “By taking care of others’ dreams, I wanted to take care of mine,” explains Benoît Miniou, detailing this project based on a preliminary foundation: his fascination with Princess Grace.

“She had beautiful commitments, a beautiful personality, and loved roses. Prince Albert II loves his mom and science, exploration, research. I said to myself, why not combine all of this in a hyperpoetic way, allowing the princess’s soul in the sky to contemplate these roses she loves so much. And behind a real scientific project.”

Studying the Resilience of Life

The connection between Benoît Miniou and Monaco has grown in recent years and, following an exchange with the French ambassador to Monaco, he presented this idea “like a message in a bottle.” An idea that did not leave the Princess of Hanover indifferent. That is why she chose to highlight it, last March at the Rose Ball, where with her friend Christian Louboutin, she imagined a theme evoking the imagination of galaxies and space exploration. In line with Benoît Miniou’s project, revealed to the guests that evening.

Space is a playground practiced by Benoît Miniou, who has sent twelve bottles of Petrus into orbit for a previous project. When it comes to roses, the approach is different. It will not involve sending a bouquet of fresh roses into space.

“Like with all my projects, I surround myself with a sharp team. I am the dreamer, the conductor accompanied by a head on space issues and another on gravitational microbiology, because the roses will be sent passively,” details the designer. “The idea is not to make them grow upwards. That doesn’t interest us for our experiment. What we want to see is the effect of radiation and microgravity on these roses. They will be sent in three states: rosewood, buds, and callus, which is the heart of a stem, rich in DNA and very reactive to the environment.”

These elements will be placed in a small container – presented at the Rose Ball – and designed to withstand the journey. The project named “Rose of Space” aims to study the resilience of life in extreme conditions and could enrich research on space exploration and sustainable agriculture on Earth.

The Ambition to Inspire Dreams

To fulfill his vision, Benoît Miniou has teamed up with space research programmers and now has two options. To send his rose container via Space X to join the International Space Station. Or, through the same channel, to be placed by a private orbiter. The launch is expected to take place in early 2027, with a duration in space ranging from 2 to 6 months.

The creator hopes that the adventure will spread some poetry in a world often gray. “I often repeat to my teams that if someone, deep in Arkansas or Thailand, hears about this adventure and it makes them dream, I’ve won my day. As I told the students at the Robert Louis Stevenson School in California, with whom we collaborate: never let anyone tell you that your dreams are too big.”

Over fifteen years with Ateliers Victor, Benoît Miniou and the dozen people who make up his team have realized several dreams. Creating in turn a pharaoh pectoral in white crocodile for a princess who wanted an impressive evening object. Or a game chest for Janet Jackson’s husband, who was looking for a unique item to offer his son before his birth.

“I never create the same thing twice,” specifies the designer, who admits that his participation in the Rose Ball in Monaco has opened “some interesting doors.” Which will continue to feed his desires.