Soho Home Expanding, Pangaia and Spiber Capsule, Saint Laurent Self Project

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·5 min read

SOHO HOME GROWS: Soho Home, Soho House’s luxury interior design and home furnishings business that allows customers to replicate the look and feel of the private members clubs, is expanding.

Adding to locations in New York’s Meatpacking District and London’s Kings Road, Soho Home will open this summer on Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill and Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, the first West Coast outpost.

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Soho.Home.Studio Westbourne Grove will be a 7,779-square-foot space next to Electric House, where both members and non-members can book a consultation with the design team, shop furniture and home accessories, as well as artworks from M.A.H. Gallery.

Soho.Home.Studio Melrose Avenue will be a 9,308-square-foot, two-story space in West Hollywood’s Design District, near the newly opened Holloway House on Holloway Drive.

Soho Home also has its own e-commerce site, selling everything from its $3,495 contemporary oak four-poster Loretta bed, to $420 silk pajamas, the $5,195 Juliana chandelier from the DUMBO House, to the Barwell crystal glassware that started the retail channel in 2016.

The Soho Home business is part of Membership Collective Group’s global portfolio of 33 Soho Houses, 9 Soho Works, The Ned in London, Scorpios Beach Club in Mykonos, The Line and Saguaro hotels in North America.

Like many shelter brands, Soho Home has been growing during the pandemic, with sales up 150 percent in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year, according to MCG.

“Our Soho.Home.Studios draw on what our members love, being able to bring the look of Soho House home,” said Andrew Carnie, president of MCG, in a statement. “We’ve been delighted to see the positive reaction the sites we opened in London and New York last year have received. These two new locations reflect our confidence in the strength of our aspirational home and interiors business.” — BOOTH MOORE

 

BREWED THREADS: The next feat to spin out of Pangaia’s laboratory is a limited-run sweatshirt made partly with brewed proteins.

Launched Tuesday, the capsule ushers in a new multiyear partnership between Pangaia and Japanese biotech start-up Spiber Inc., and marks the first time Spiber’s “Brewed Protein” fibers and organic cotton make their way into a major apparel launch. The amount of investment behind the partnership is undisclosed, but Spiber is one of the top-funded material firms with more than $600 million in funding since 2015.

“This is our first product with Spiber, and we will continue developing new products with Brewed Protein fibers,” said Dr. Amanda Parkes, chief innovation officer, Pangaia. “We can’t share anything just yet — but stay tuned.” Parkes said Brewed Protein fibers are already a “disruptive” alternative in the race away from non carbon-polluting materials.

Established in September 2007, Spiber Inc. taps cutting-edge synthetic biology, polymer and material science in the making of its Brewed Protein materials made from plant-based sugars that undergo a microbial fermentation process.

Parkes shared how Pangaia and Spiber met many years ago and came together around the “shared conviction” that biofabrication could offer the fashion industry much more responsible solutions.

The limited-run “Nxt Gen” hoodie is available on pangaia.com for $395 in sizes XXS to XXL and counts less than 200 pieces in production. The sweatshirt — made of a blend of just 12 percent Brewed Protein fiber and 88 percent organic cotton — is displayed at the Biofabricate Summit in New York City.

“Not many brands have the capabilities and patience to harness a completely new material like Brewed Protein fiber to create a first-of-a-kind product. It has been a great experience working with the Pangaia team….After over two years of joint development, we are very excited to finally see the world’s first sweatshirts containing Brewed Protein fiber being produced by Pangaia,” said Kenji Higashi, Spiber’s head of business development, sales and sustainability. — KALEY ROSHITSH

 

PICTURE PERFECT: For the seventh chapter of the Self artistic project, Saint Laurent artistic director Anthony Vaccarello has invited not one but six photographers — all under the umbrella of Magnum Photos.

What’s more, the exclusive artwork they have created will be exhibited simultaneously in Paris, London, New York, Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai from Thursday to June 12, in a bid to “intangibly connect the world,” stated the French fashion label.

London-based Olivia Arthur, who serves as the international photographic cooperative’s president, will exhibit her work on the way we touch, connect and relate to each other.

New Yorkers will discover the vibrancy of the Pinata, Flower and Fashion districts of downtown Los Angeles through the eyes of street photographer Alex Webb.

In Paris, it is the feeling of being between worlds that veteran Belgian photographer Harry Gruyaert explored in the interplay of light, transparency and reflections inspired by his lifelong fascination for airports.

Three Magnum Photos guests will be showcased in Asia. Paris-based Daesung Lee will showcase his reflections on the inner self in the wake of spring 2020’s COVID-19 lockdowns in Seoul.

Takahashi Homma considers the relationship between fashion and “The City” — in his case, Tokyo — and Birdhead, the duo formed by Song Tao and Ji Weiyu, juxtaposes the contours of cityscape, clothing and body with natural elements in Shanghai.

Launched in 2018 during the Paris Photo fair, the Self project is meant as an artistic commentary seen through the lens of Saint Laurent, and represents the freedom of self-expression.

Previous iterations included films and photography signed by author Bret Easton Ellis, performance artist Vanessa Beecroft, photographer Daido Moriyama, film director Gaspar Noé, as well as a chapter curated by Hong Kong’s Wong Kar Wai and directed by Wing Shya. — LILY TEMPLETON

 

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