Eponine: Jet Shenkman

Since the establishment of her galleries in Fitzrovia in 1988, Rebecca Hossack has championed the individual and the innovative. Curating ground-breaking exhibitions of contemporary art, she has redefined the parameters of an art gallery as both a space and a concept.

Hossack’s galleries were the first in Europe to exhibit Aboriginal art, as well as installations of work from Papua New Guinea, tribal India, Inuit carvings and Botswanan basketry. Challenging the notion that art and craft should be kept separate, Hossack pioneered the ceramics of Anne Stokes, which went on to join the Victoria and Albert Museum collection, as well as exhibiting jewellery by renowned art jeweller Pippa Small.

This November, Hossack will be collaborating with womenswear designer-to-watch Jet Shenkman, showcasing key pieces from her collection in an exhibition that celebrates Shenkman’s dresses as an art form and her individual eye for line and colour. Collaborating with designer Petar Rogachev, Shenkman’s revolutionary Eponine label combines the elegant shapes of the Fifties and palette of the Sixties with couture African cottons, each dress bearing a unique pattern and contemporary embellishments. With the Duchess of Cambridge a recent advocate of her label, this will be the first major presentation of Shenkman’s designs in London.