Looking closley

Observation, materials and the art of paying attention with Faye Toogood

From observation and material exploration to play and imperfection, Faye Toogood reflects on the ideas that have shaped her multidisciplinary practice, and why learning to look closely remains at the heart of everything she creates.

Article and interview by Tim Small.

Few contemporary designers have navigated the boundaries between furniture, interiors, fashion and collectible design with the same quiet confidence as Faye Toogood. Since founding her London-based studio in 2008, she has developed a body of work that resists categorisation, moving effortlessly between sculptural objects, clothing and spatial environments.

Behind her distinctive forms lies a practice rooted less in aesthetics than in observation. Raised in the English countryside and trained first as an editor, Toogood approaches creativity as a process of looking closely, at materials, landscapes, histories and the overlooked details of everyday life.

We spoke with Toogood about the experiences that shaped her creative perspective, the value of play and imperfection, and how curiosity continues to guide her work.

Tim: Before furniture, before interiors, before Toogood became Toogood, what first taught you how to look?

Faye: The countryside taught me how to look. I grew up in rural England before screens became a constant presence. Much of my childhood was spent outside, paying attention to things that weren’t designed at all: trees, stones, weather, animal tracks and agricultural structures.

Nature was my first visual education. Looking carefully isn’t passive, it is a creative act. It teaches you to recognise patterns, relationships and forms that might otherwise go unnoticed. Everything I make today can be traced back to that early habit of paying attention.

Tim: You began your career as an editor rather than a designer. How does that background continue to shape your practice?

Faye: Editing is about making meaning through selection. What you leave out is often as important as what you include. Even when I’m designing a chair, I’m thinking about context, narrative and relationships rather than simply form. The biggest transition was moving from interpreting other people’s ideas to trusting my own.

Tim: You’re also an avid collector. What continues to fascinate you about collecting?

Faye: For many years I’ve collected stones, fossils and bones. They’re records of time, stories of geology, erosion and growth. A weathered bone or fossil can contain extraordinary sophistication without ever having been designed. They remind me that creativity isn’t always about invention. Often it begins with observation.

Tim: Your work often seems to begin with the material itself. What are you looking for when you encounter a new material?

Faye: I’m interested in what a material wants to do before I decide what I want it to do. Rather than treating materials as passive, I see them as collaborators. The most exciting discoveries happen when you stop imposing an outcome and begin listening.

Tim: There’s often a rawness or irregularity in your work. What role does imperfection play?

Faye: Imperfection reminds us that objects have histories. I’m interested in evidence of making, traces of labour, signs of human presence. Those qualities give objects character and prevent them from becoming generic.

Tim: When do you know an idea is worth pursuing?

Faye: Usually when it asks questions I can’t immediately answer. The most interesting ideas emerge through experimentation. If something feels unfamiliar or challenges my assumptions, I know there’s something worth exploring.

Tim: Your work moves easily between furniture, fashion, interiors and art. Have those distinctions ever mattered to you?

Faye: Not really. The boundaries between disciplines have always felt artificial. I’m interested in ideas rather than categories. Sometimes an idea becomes a sculpture, sometimes a garment, sometimes a chair. The medium changes, but the enquiry remains the same.

Tim: Looking back at your earliest work, what has changed most about your relationship with creativity?

Faye: I’ve become less interested in creativity as self-expression and more interested in it as a way of understanding the world. Today, creativity feels less about having answers and more about remaining open to possibilities.

Tim: Your collaboration with Hem began with Puffy Chair. What do you remember most about that project?

Faye: The Puffy Chair, launched in 2017, was our first collaboration and remains one I’m incredibly fond of. It was my first exploration of upholstery, a playful padded quilt draped over a simple steel frame.

I still have a wonderful photograph of myself holding up the detachable quilt. It looks like a giant padded coat. That sense of humour and experimentation has always stayed with the project.

Tim: Hem has always embraced a sense of playfulness. What does play mean in your work?

Faye: Playfulness has become increasingly important to me. I grew up with very little outside influence, we didn’t have a television until I was eight or nine, and I spent most of my time outdoors inventing things. That unconscious state of creativity and restless experimentation still drives my process today. Even in industrial production, I think it’s important to preserve that sense of play. I’m grateful to the collaborators and manufacturers who help make that possible.

Tim: How do creative freedom and practical constraints influence one another?

Faye: Every project comes with constraints, whether they’re material, technical or financial. Working on limited-edition pieces with galleries gives me the freedom to experiment more openly. Those explorations often feed back into the studio’s industrial design projects.

Tim: Finally, what do you hope people experience when they encounter your work?

Faye: A shift in perception. I hope the work creates a moment of pause, where familiar assumptions become slightly unsettled. Good design encourages us to look again, at an object, a material or even a way of living. If it sparks curiosity or imagination, then it has achieved something meaningful.