What does Toogood think is the most exciting thing happening in the design industry today?
Faye Toogood photographed by Genevieve Lutkin
Growing up among the idyllic fields of the English countryside, designer Faye Toogood found her creative prowess at an early age. She spent her days outdoors where foraging in the woods for natural treasures became her favorite past-time. Faye’s penchant for arranging—and re-arranging—her collection on the mantle of her childhood bedroom was only the beginning of her life-long journey in artistic design.
Now the founder of Toogood, her eponymous London-based design studio, Faye’s work spans numerous disciplines from interior design, homewares, fine art, and fashion - a partnership with sister Erica Toogood. Faye’s avant-garde work can be found in the permanent collections of museums around the world including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art, High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Corning Museum of Glass in New York, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, and the Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg.
Designed by Toogood, the Regent Street location for British luxury brand, Mulberry, was inspired by the strong, geometric forms found in brutalist architecture with the inviting palate of the British landscape.
Photographed by French+Tye.
Coinciding with Toogood’s participation in The Designer Studio at Maison&Objet in Paris, September 7-11, 2023, where several international designers will exclusively present their new self-published collections, GRAY connected with Faye to answer a few of our burning questions...
Six sculptural pieces make up Toogood's 'Dough Ceramics' collection, each cast in stoneware from a hand-sculpted original. Photographed by Matthew Donaldson.
1. What has been your biggest challenge as a designer?
“Trying to get things manufactured and distributed. The world (especially if you are a UK designer working after Brexit) has become very challenging to find manufacturers of quality, working consciously with materials that are well sourced and ethically sound that can then actually ship or move anything around the world cost-effectively. We all know we need to start thinking more locally, but it is becoming increasingly real how unsustainable it is to make and move things around the globe in the future.”
2. For you, what’s the most exciting thing happening in the world of design now?
“I am hugely proud of the fact that there are a great number of female product and furniture designers at the moment creating work that feels connected, human, material-sensitive and relevant. This has taken a number of years, but now the industry of design is no longer dominated by a handful of big name male designers.”
3. What three objects are always on your desk?
“A nineteenth century inkwell made from brass in the shape of a beehive with agate bees on it. Found in a junk shop - I like the attention to detail and humor behind it. A pile of personalized stationary from The Mount Street Printers in an old shoe box. A cup full of of 0.5 black fine liner pens.”
Toogood's 2023 spring/summer clothing collection includes voluminous, natural fabrics, and pieces displaying a striking, large-scale bespoke gingham print. Photographed by Clare Shilland.
For more information on Toogood visit their website.
For tickets and more information to Maison&Objet Paris, visit their website.