Katherine Lo never took a single business class; her family encouraged her to follow her passions, and she was drawn to filmmaking and activism. So she was surprised when her father, executive chairman of Langham Hospitality Group, asked if she would create a new hotel brand in 2014. He wanted something innovative, and she saw a chance to make an impact.

“It was an incredible opportunity to use the resources that I had access to and create a vehicle for true community building, social change and the arts,” says Lo. She has done just that, establishing Eaton Workshop in 2018 as a mission-driven brand that offers artist residencies, co-working spaces and inclusive programming at hotels in Hong Kong and Washington, DC.

Dialogue about gender and LGBTQ+ issues is an ongoing focus and part of Lo’s vision of Eaton as a haven for all comers, including refugees and other marginalised groups (a meaningful example is the gender-neutral bathrooms). Even during Covid-19, the hotels have continued to engage with locals, hosting an online film festival; sidewalk concerts with DJs; and ballet performances on Eaton Hong Kong’s terrace, which guests watched from their rooms.

Lo and her team are institutionalising Eaton’s values in a blueprint that will enable them to replicate the approach for outposts in Seattle and Toronto. “I’ve found that Eaton has been very transformative for people who have either worked here or engaged with us,” she says.