One of their most recent commissions was to design the interiors for London based boutique Hostem, a progressive, somewhat dark, somewhat gritty sort of upscale menswear emporium. Located in Shoreditch, the new London bohemia...prices in Chelsea have skyrocketed since the bond-boom...its the sort of store that maintains that gritty fleet-street-esque unassuming industrial brick facade 1930's depressed worker's housing aesthetic with a tim-burton hilt to it.
...exposed old-fashioned light-bulbs & a floor that looks like it hasn't
seen the likes of a broom since King George IV went mad...
..and that undulating ceiling is interesting, which is more than we can say for the shoes...definitely a detour from that pseudo-Victorian modern aesthetic...
It was not only the look of the store, but the lifestyle they were selling which really got me excited. after flipping through their lookbook, I've decided I need them to style my life please. The looks are very dark and in some respects luxuriously pesimistic? I felt sinister was a bit too far. But most importantly there's a graceful dignity to the clothing that seems like it would let one be different, edgy, and new without being completely unrecognizable to the general populous as some progressive brands do. hem* hem* Rick Owens, but as demostrated below...every single image they've created for their lookbook makes me want to throw fits on the floor for them not having an American operation...
...theres a certain gracefulness to a longer form of clothing...
...lately an obsession of mine: mixing Black & Navy...
...okay, honestly its only acceptable to have
cropped pants when you've high boots on...
... ubiquitous hipster uniform, but still cool...
...simple clothing makes you find the details in
texture, materiality and subtle colour changes...
...I've always wanted to be able to operate in a
single colour sceme, but I'm to random for it so
images like this are eternally out of my grasp...
...but I want to! I so want to!!!...
...sure its simple, but its still evocative don't you think?
...and my personal favorite...not the most wearable, but definitely
underscores the "incognito-chic" look I feel they're going for...all you'd
have to do is unzip the jacket a bit and it'dbe slightly less formidable...
Their other artistic works are also very ethereal and evocative. Their furniture design almost seems Edward-Gorey-esque? Their whole approach to design isn't so much to create these "creepy" pieces of furniture and objects, but rather to use objects of the past, objects often overlooked and forgotten and to give them new life without coating them in modern paint colours, or restoring the pieces, but rather to leave them in their existing state, to maintain their inherent age and dignity, but to do so in a way that serves its function as a chair, or a chandelier...I'd offer this explanation...its like they're inviting us to live in this forgotten world of memories, sure it may be tattered at the edges and suffer cracks and discolouration, but its a dignified re-use of what most would simply have chucked into the trash-pile...I'm getting so inspired I may just start carting back broken "curbiture" to my apartment to cobble together new furniture pieces...my poor roomates.
...reminiscent of Coraline's upstairs attic dwelling acrobatic neighbor much?...
...with a few good pillows this could actually work, but I think
from an artistic perspective its absolutely pitch-perfect...
...some find it creepy, others bizarre, but in the words of Christian Boltanski : "Objects are waiting for love - for someone to say "I want you"...well James Russel and Hannah Plumb...you make me want to go to there, live in it, wear it, Eat Live and Breathe it!!!
