Jesmonite heads to flagship skincare company as it opens first UK store

A Los Angeles-based vegan skincare company has opened its first UK store – complete with chairs made of Jesmonite!

The blue and terracotta marble effect VISTA chairs have been installed in Spitalfields Market’s new Youth To The People store.

The space doubles as both a retail shop and an event location, so customers sitting on the chairs during a one-on-one with a skin health coach may also be sat enjoying live music or networking.

The chairs were created by Rekha Maker, a Glasgow-based architect and designer. Rekha came up with the chair design when she entered an open competition by Design Exhibition Scotland to rethink the bench.

She was selected to fabricate her chair design which was featured at Mount Stuart and then exhibited at the Victoria & Albert museum, Dundee.

She said: “I loved designing the chairs initially, so to be asked to make more of them was a huge honour.

“I am so grateful to Youth to The People for asking me to be part of this project, it has been great to collaborate with them.

“Jesmonite is a great material for this, it sets quickly and is versatile which meant I could achieve a palette that was complimentary to their brand.

“The tactile nature of Jesmonite gives them a luxurious vibe in their store.”

Rekha first heard about the material as she trained as an architect but has now been running her craft business called Rekha Maker – which makes candle holders, vases and jewellery pots exclusively from Jesmonite – for three years.

Youth to The People was created by cousins Greg Gonzalez and Joe Cloyes eight years ago to create a skincare brand focused on innovative science using entirely vegan ingredients.

They said: “It is more than a retail space, the Youth Gallery is a hub for the community to connect, create content and experience our products and pro-aesthetician heritage services in real-time.

“Our space will have a robust event calendar with rotating installations highlighting emerging artists, DJs, and forward-thinkers, to amplify and build our global community, and reflect on issues important to us and people, like the future of our planet and social justice.”

Jesmonite also featured Rekha when she created the trophies for the Scottish Album of the Year Awards – and she’s done so much in between too!

You can follow her on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn to see what brilliant creations she has made!