The Stockholm-based furniture brand’s SoHo outpost will host an array of talks and events
Hem — the Stockholm-based design brand known for bridging contemporary designers with craft manufacturers — is opening its first New York outpost.
The Hem New York Studio, at 460 Broome Street in SoHo, is the brand’s second permanent US showroom. It follows the inauguration of its Los Angeles store in 2019. The expansion follows a vast acceleration expansion of sales for the brand, which last year doubled its profitable turnover.
Open by appointment, the Hem New York Studio will present a rotating display of established and recent pieces, including Max Lamb’s Max Table and Bench and Jenny Nordberg’s Power Cases, which make their US debut. Products can be purchased on site for same-week delivery.
A reconfigurable design by Hem’s in-house interior team will allow for events such as workshops and panels, casting the showroom as a creative hub. “New York,” says CEO and founder Petrus Palmér, “has been our single most important market since Hem’s inception. It is a city filled with creativity and entrepreneurial ambitions and home to many architects and designers we admire.”
One permanent feature is a site-specific installation named The Phalanx, named in reference to the ancient mathematician Archimedes’ legendary use of the sun’s rays to turn a Roman fleet. Designed by Brooklyn-based studio Chen Chen & Kai Williams, it is composed of 20 silver and glass panels, and stands at almost 10 feet tall. Displayed on an easel-esque steel structure, the panels can be angled to alter the appearance of the reflections.
“When Petrus came to us about this product,” say the designers, “we all arranged it was important not to be mistaken as something from Hem’s collection so aesthetically we were looking for something a little more raw. We ended up with this rough, scaffold-like structure which has a real dichotomy with Hem’s furniture.”
Founded in 2014 and named after the Swedish word for ‘home’, Hem has quickly become a global design brand. Remarkable early on for its willingness to sell its entire range online, Hem now offers over 400 different products, designed by some of the most prominent figures in contemporary design. Collaborators have included Anderssen & Voll, Bertjan Pot, Form Us With Love, GamFratesi and Pauline Deltour.
All photographs by Brian Ferry
