PortraitAt 45, she is one of the leaders of English design. From interior architecture to the design of furniture or clothing, the designer builds a universe that is both raw and precious, whose creations first express an emotion.
Short on legs, with “elephant shapes”. This is how its own creator describes the Roly Poly rotomoulded plastic armchair, whose primitive curves are not devoid of a certain grace. The star of the poster for the exhibition “Here We Are! Women in design 1900-today”, which has just been completed at the Vitra Design Museum, Basel, was designed by Faye Toogood in 2014.
The English designer first had it made in fiberglass for a confidential publishing house before it was made in plastic by Driade in 2018. “The first year, we sold 2,000 copies and, since then, the evolution of sales has been exponential. We had to triple our production capacity to meet the orders and we plan to release more than 12,000 in 2022 thanks to a new mold that we have just acquired”, says Marco Pozzo, CEO of the Italian firm. It therefore took four years for the Roly Poly to establish itself in the design landscape.
The disposable, very little for her
Away from the frantic pace imposed by this sector, like that of fashion, Faye Toogood patiently builds a body of work that ranges from interior design – for individuals or brands like Carhartt – to the creation of furniture. more or less confidential and clothes with loose cuts that are timeless, all under the Toogood label.
“Toogood, most people think it’s a pseudonym, but it’s a very old English name!” »Faye Toogood
The disposable, the ephemeral, very little for her. Even the sandals she designed in 2021 for Birkenstock, instead of being yet another capsule, are now part of the shoe brand’s catalog. “The ecological cost of novelties is immense. Today, we need to produce for the long term to avoid this waste,” hammers the creative diaphanous.
Since her beginnings, Faye Toogood has embodied a universe made up of contrasts, tensions between masculine and feminine, raw and precious materials, clean lines and imperfection. “Faye was able to reconcile 2D and 3D, the power of the image and the materiality of the creations, the aesthetics of the object and its use, industrial and artisanal influences… All of this by blowing up the boundaries of creation. His vision greatly influenced younger generations of English designers,” says fashion historian Alistair O’Neill, curator and professor of fashion history and theory at Central Saint Martins School, London.
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