The first exhibition of ceramic work by Japanese ceramicist Kazunori Hamana in the UK. The exhibition was comprised of five large vessels that made reference to the traditional Japanese tsubo, a functional clay jar dating back to prehistoric times used for storage and fermentation.

For the duration of London Craft Week, woodworker Bobby Mills moved his workshop to the New Road Residence where he created new pieces on a traditional woodturning lathe alongside a series of his handcrafted vessels and furniture. Guests were invited to observe his craft and to talk with him about his practice. View here.

A solo exhibition of colour photographs by Jonas Loellmann. Composed of abstract compositions and images of the natural world, the exhibition was focused on the experience of a moment and how a potential for transcendence and emotions can be found in visual perception.

The first solo exhibition of Tyler Hay’s work in the UK, comprising seven functional wall-mounted urinals sculpted by hand from stoneware clay sourced from beneath Hays’ Philadelphia studio.

The first exhibition of design works by internationally renowned artist Eva Rothschild. The project included furniture, ceramics and the second tapestry created by the artist in collaboration with West Dean College of Arts and Conservation.

Mãos is awarded its first Michelin Star just 18 months after opening.

Mãos launches Mãos Invites, an ongoing programme of collaborative evenings and chef residencies that allow for culinary and creative exchange amongst peers and friends. We were honoured to host Atsushi Tanaka from Restaurant A.T., Tom Adams and the team from Coombeshead Farm, Gareth Ward, Chef-Owner at Ynshir, and an evening with Strohmeier & Mythopia in collaboration with Newcomer Wines.

Blue Mountain School opens. Spread across six-floors on the former site of Hostem on the corner of Chance and Redchurch Streets, the building is host to several designated spaces: Mãos, a kitchen, table and wine room; Grace’s, a sequestered event space; Blue Projects, an exhibition space comprised of a series of viewing rooms; and Hostem, an open archive.

Blue Projects is inaugurated with an exhibition of work by Alexis Gautier, which explored systems of meaning-making through a range of media in collaboration with other artists and craftspeople.

An exhibition of work by Elias Hansen composed of wall-based and hanging sculpture comprised of hand-blown glass, neon lights, rubber tubing and chopped wood. In the double-height space of the gallery, Hansen presented a monumental hanging work, his largest to date.

On the occasion of Frieze, London, an installation of new works by Anecho was presented in Viewing Room 1. Spanning the ground floor of Blue Mountain School, an environment was built to evoke the emotional space from which the works arise. The installation was comprised of a system of hand-built furniture pieces in tulipwood with copper wrapped elements, and a cedar and oak bookcase containing unbound silk photographs by Anastasia Khodkina, alongside garments and printed images on silk. For the first time, facets of the installation, such as editioned furniture pieces, were lifted to exist as standalone works available for purchase. View available Anecho work here.

An exhibition of new work by Valentin Loellmann comprised of furniture pieces that further explored the ambiguity between sculptural and functional qualities in his practice. This was the first time that Loellmann produced large-scale works within a more sculptural capacity, realised in materials such as copper, stainless steel, marble and charred oak with mirror-polished surfaces. The exhibition is accompanied by Loellmann’s work on the upper floors of Blue Mountain School, his first commission as a spatial designer.

Hostem relaunches at 28 Old Nichol Street with SS/17 collections while works take place at the 41-43 Redchurch Street building.

To celebrate the launch of Anecho SS/17, Hostem presented an installation of clothing comprising their first-ever ready-to-wear collection, curated by Hans Nicholas Mott and Anastasia Khodkina.

The installation included of a system of hand-built wooden display units on which the garments were presented. Khodkina and Mott also collaborated with Thea and Ethan Wagner on a linear series of images collected in the form of a newspaper, featuring Jenny Jaskey, Andrew Kreps, Chiara Repetto, Paul Leong, and Thea Westreich Wagner and Ethan Wagner, as models themselves.

To coincide with the in-store installation, Hostem hosted an evening at the New Road Residence with light refreshments and seasonal cocktails provided by Gimlet Bar.

Hostem at 28 Old Nichol Street

Hostem moves to a new retail space for the SS/16 season, the Hostem Spring Store at 28 Old Nichol Street, to allow works to take place at the 41-43 Redchurch Street building. Located within a shadow’s reach from the original Redchurch Street HQ, the 230sqm interior is devised as an open-plan environment with a site-specific structure to house a rotating display of men’s and women’s ready-to-wear.

The New Road Residence
Officially Open

The New Road Residence is announced, a curated guesthouse in Whitechapel available for short and long term stays.

Hostem presents designer John Alexander Skelton’s Collection II during Frieze. The collection is revealed in two parts comprised of a live presentation, in which models walked amidst a sage-infused haze with a percussive soundscape created by one of the few tabla performers based in the UK; the second, a week-long installation presented in-store.

Skelton’s collection took its influence from Cottonopolis, the cotton towns of Lancashire that thrived throughout the 19th to early 20th Century, and explored their tumultuous connections with the eastern world, in particular India.

December
Discarded Sleeping Stations
George Hields

Hostem publishes a photo book by George Hields, Discarded Sleeping Stations, in a limited edition of 100 with Ditto Press. Ten artist editions are printed with an alternate cover and include a signed C-type print, developed by hand from the original 35mm negative. The body of work examines some of the criticism leveraged at artists such as Ed Ruscha and John Baldessari in the early 1960s for creating work that placed concept over aesthetics.

For the launch of AW/15 and to celebrate the arrival of shoe brand Cherevichkiotvichki’s collection, Part Two, Hostem invited its founder Victoria Andrejeva to present The Lace, a window installation spanning three windows of the Redchurch Street store. The 200-meter long paper sculpture, comprised of pattern cutting paper stained with black teas and dyed by hand, made reference to the processes and experimental techniques explored by Cherevichkiotvichki. The kaleidoscopic and improvised canvas, marked with variants in colour and texture, was modelled into a tubular cord that stretched across Hostem’s ground floor windows like a giant wave.

Hostem invited artist and jewellery designer Alice Waese to create a site-specific work in store for one week in October during Frieze. Waese created a floor to ceiling wall of drawings, working on-site to complete two full-length cave paintings in watercolour and ink. This large-scale work was installed within Hostem’s upper floors. Once complete, the artist divided the work into sections that were made available to purchase. View available work by Alice Waese here.

As a prelude to the re-launch of his eponymous label, London and Paris-based Finnish designer Heikki Salonen created an exclusive collection for Hostem entitled Deadstock, presented at Hostem’s satellite location at 71 Redchurch Street. The designer created an installation that opened a window into his world of rugged sophistication, including music, and references to subcultural groups and cults. Reworking staple silhouettes, techniques and materials from his previous collections, Salonen offered a reimagining of his world into a men’s and women’s capsule, looking back to the roots of the brand to continue the Heikki Salonen story.

To celebrate the launch, Hostem hosts House Party 2.0 with music by Andy Blake of World Unknown, and Rodaidh McDonald and Will Aspden of XL Recordings.

Hostem invited artist and weaver Amy Revier to create a site-specific work that would take place over the course of one evening. Based on the idea of the stripe and the dualities it holds, Revier created a textile that made reference to the worker’s stripe and the textiles worn by Japanese farmers in the Edo period, who would grow their own flax from which to make their clothing. Through the skilled and repetitive act of weaving, Revier evoked the dedication and concentration brought to the creation of a textile throughout history. The evening was hosted in the upper space of Hostem, designed by Valentin Loellmann, and accompanied by music provided by Caius Pawson, cocktails by Lounge Bohemia, and food by Jackson Boxer.

Hostem launches an Artist In Residence annual program, featuring exhibitions and installations by Faye Toogood & Erica Toogood, Amy Revier, and Atelier Baba. And, an extension of three floors is added to Hostem at its Redchurch Street location to create an exhibition space for special events and shows.

Atelier Baba was in residence at Hostem for the duration of the month of April to celebrate the launch of their debut collection of handbuilt boots and shoes, Timiditine. The collaboration saw the takeover of the entire lower ground floor of the store on Redchurch Street. Founders Gabriella Massey and Melissa Thompson worked with furniture dealers, artists and makers in London to create an installation bringing together an array of personal articles and antiquities, alongside antique hand-dyed linens, furniture by Christopher Howe, rare indigo textiles and clothing by Molly Hogg, painted objects by Christopher Page, Rock-Crystal spheres by Ben Gaskell, and indigo plaster casts by Clementine Keith-Roach. Guests were led by floor tapestries to the lower ground floor. The installation was accompanied by an excerpt from Werner Herzog, and musical recordings that featured the sound of bells. The space was perfumed with the scent of rose and tea from the Sahara desert.

To celebrate the launch of TOOGOOD, the outerwear label by sister duo Faye and Erica Toogood, the mezzanine floor at Hostem was transformed into a studio space that evoked an artist’s atelier, where furniture and objects by Faye Toogood spoke of her ongoing interest in tactile, sculptural forms and the honest labour of traditional craftsmanship. The centrepiece of the installation was The Sculptors Table, fabricated from solid 150-year old British pine, coated with a thick icing-like top of car paint and lacquer, and arrayed with miniatures that represented the sculptor’s inspirations and creative process. A large-scale sculpture installed between the upper floors depicted the form of a worker, uniting the worlds of art and industry at the heart of Toogood’s practice. Their debut collection of signature workwear styles was presented in freestanding sculptural cages.

Sebastian Tarek’s bespoke collection comprised his interpretation of two classic boot styles: The Derby and The Side Button Boot. To celebrate the launch, Tarek joined with illustrator and long-time collaborator Clara Lacy to install a display, centred on the bootmaking process, across the ground floor windows of Hostem’s Redchurch Street store.

Amy Revier was invited to perform in store for one week, relocating her studio and installing her traditional floor loom to weave a textile that would be sewn into a garment. From morning to evening, visitors could encounter the varied and intensive stages of an immersive practice that has remained largely unchanged from ancient times to this day. Alongside the performance, Revier presented a collection of garments created exclusively for Hostem. This was the first time a large body of her work had been shown together. The collection was installed for the duration of the residency, as well as part of an exhibition spanning one month.

Still Life, the first exhibition within Hostem’s viewing space, comprised specially made ceramic works, sculptural still life and visualisations of sound by Japanese artists Studio Potapota and Hidekazu Sogabe.

Hostem Lookbook
AW/14

Hostem produces an in-house A/W 14 lookbook photographed by Rory van Millingen featuring garments by Yohji Yamamoto, Yang Li, Ann Demeulemeester, Raf Simons, and Commes des Garcons. Shot on location at Hostem and at Jericho Priory.

The Chalk Room
Launches

Hostem launches The Chalk Room, offering bespoke tailoring, footwear and accessories. The Chalk Room is fitted out with repurposed and reconfigured antique furniture pieces by JamesPlumb, comprising a Victorian wardrobe, glass pendant lights, Wurlitzer organ, and a 19^th-century leather Chesterfield with a wooden church pew emerging from its centre.

Womenswear
Launches

Hostem introduces Womenswear, housed within a dedicated new space – a 6,000 square foot extension to the upper floors of the building.

Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella
Officially Opens

Hostem opens the Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella concession in a purpose-built installation echoing the brand’s 17th-century origins in Florence.

Judy Blame
Bespoke Collection and Installation

Hostem presents a bespoke collection of jewellery by designer, fashion stylist and art director Judy Blame, accompanied by a window installation across the ground floor windows of the store on Redchurch Street.

World Architecture Awards

Hostem is awarded the top prize in the retail category by the World Architecture Awards.

The debut issue of Hostem’s in-house art and fashion magazine, Sebastian, is published.

The One Room Hotel
In Collaboration with James Plumb
London Design Week

During London Design Week, Hostem opens the One Room Hotel, an experimental and sensorial installation in collaboration with JamesPlumb, which included signature timeworn and restored pieces by the British design duo. By day, visitors were invited to experience the space and for the debut of new interior pieces. By night, the keys were handed over to a chosen few to spend one night in this truly inimitable hotel.

Hostem
Officially Opens

Hostem opens its doors on Redchurch Street in East London’s Shoreditch. The store is comprised of three conjoining rooms designed by British duo James Russel and Hannah Plumb of JamesPlumb, housing collections by designers including Ann Demeulemeester, Visvim, Rick Owens, The Viridi-Anne, and Odyn Vovk. The interior incorporates reclaimed wooden floorboards, thick Swedish linen curtains, and repurposed furniture items including a pew that stands as a central front desk, and vintage trouble lighting from the US that hangs from long cables. The first two rooms house Hostem’s permanent collections, while the third is designated as an ever-evolving space where designers are invited to take up short-term residencies and to curate the room in their own unique way.

Prior to becoming Hostem, the building on Redchurch Street was an old factory that had been owned by a Bangladeshi family for a quarter of a century and left derelict for a number of years before being chanced upon by founder James Brown.

Prescription Shoppe
by Dr Romanelli

Hostem hosts LA-based designer Dr Romanelli, featuring his latest collaborative projects with brands including Oliver Peoples, artist Jose Parla, and Japanese brands Anachronorm, and The Real McCoys. The collection draws inspiration from classic Americana and military staples, presented alongside accessories in buffalo hide by LA-based design duo Parabellum.

Hostem House Party 1.0

Hostem hosts House Party 1.0 with music by Jamie XX and Trevor Jackson.