Hem Makes a Splash at London Design Festival
Photo by Luke Hayes.
Making their presence felt at this year’s London Design Festival, Berlin-based furniture brand Hem created an interactive installation at Somerset House; opened a Covent Garden pop-up; launched a new line of lights by Luca Nichetto; and embarked upon a city-wide advertising campaign that saw the brand name plastered across lamp posts and newspaper pages throughout the week.
Formed over a year ago by entrepreneur Jason Goldberg , after his online design store fab.com acquired Scandinavian design brand Form Us With Love, Hem sells customizable flat pack furniture, lighting and accessories.
Following hot on the heels of the brand’s Berlin store and Hamburg showroom, Hem’s slick new London outpost looks more permanent than pop-up. Here, arranged across two floors, customer’s can interact with the products in person, explore the brand’s customization tools via touchscreen devices, and get a closer look at fabrics and finishes which are organized into a material library across the back wall.
“Between the many interactive components of the store and the range of new product, I am confident that London design lovers will be as excited about Hem’s UK launch as we are,” says Goldberg.
Photo by Luke Hayes.
Taking centre stage in the store for design week is the modular Alphabeta lamp created by Italian designer Luca Nichetto. Made up of a top and bottom and shade, the pendant lamps come in more than 10 billion possible combinations. Customers can choose from a total of 24 shades made up of eight different shapes, each available in black and white as well as its own unique color. In addition, the lamps can be purchased individually, in pairs or in lines of three or four. “My inspiration was really an ambition to create an alphabet,” explains Nichetto, “a system where you can combine different kinds of shades to create your own lamps. I researched different kinds of shades and effects of light, and tried to simplify that by creating a single piece that can be combined with the other shades, to create a kind of alphabet.”
The Hem pop-up store is open from through January 31, 2016, at 9 Earlham Street in London.
Photo by Luke Hayes.
