{"id":339315,"date":"2020-02-27T13:31:55","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T18:31:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.1stdibs.com\/blogs\/the-study\/?p=339315"},"modified":"2021-12-15T06:20:01","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T11:20:01","slug":"faye-toogood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.1stdibs.com\/blogs\/the-study\/faye-toogood\/","title":{"rendered":"Visionary Women: Faye Toogood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Faye<\/a>
Faye Toogood<\/a> in her East London studio. Photo by Luke Walker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Faye Toogood<\/a>\u2019s name is practically synonymous with her Roly Poly chair<\/a>. With its chubby legs and bowl-like seat, the now-iconic piece epitomized the trend toward chunky forms that defined avant-garde furniture design in the 2010s. But the British artist\u2019s contributions go far beyond the chair and its similarly robust companion pieces, in disciplines ranging from textiles and ceramics to fashion and home interiors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI design holistically, with an overall vision across fashion, furniture and interiors,\u201d she tells us. \u201cFurniture is something I return to over and over again and is a very strong part of this vision. I am interested in humans and the way they live \u2014 the spaces they inhabit, the clothes they wear, the objects they surround themselves with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Faye
Toodgood’s fashion pieces flank a Roly Poly dining chair<\/a>. Photo by Luke Walker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Toogood has exhibited at Phillips and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Triennale in Milan and D Museum in Seoul. In addition, her works are in the permanent collections of institutions worldwide, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Dallas Museum of Art; Denver Art Museum; High Museum of Art, in Atlanta; Corning Museum of Glass, in New York; the National Gallery of Victoria, in Melbourne; and the Faberg\u00e9 Museum in St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In honor of Women\u2019s History Month, Toogood tells us how her own creative output has been influenced by the Italian architect and designer Cini Boeri<\/a>, now 95 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Italian<\/a>
Toogood says of Italian innovator Cini Boeri<\/a>, “Her bold and courageous forms and the way she plays with materiality are inspiring.” Photo courtesy of Cini Boeri Studio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Which female furniture designer has most influenced your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cini Boeri, a female design pioneer whose designs from the 1970s and \u201980s still feel contemporary today. I admire the work she did across architecture, interiors and furniture. She practiced architecture during a time when it was considered that women were too fragile to work outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cini
Cini Boeri Ghost chair, 1987<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What about her do you find impactful?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her bold and courageous forms and the way she plays with materiality are inspiring. She created a chair from a single glass sheet, cut and bent to form simultaneously the seat, the armrests and the backrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Faye
Faye Toogood crystal Roly Poly chair, 2016<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How is her influence reflected in your work today?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her Ghost chair<\/a> sparked my ambition to design a glass chair \u2014 and in 2016, I realized my Roly-Poly chair in solid crystal glass<\/a> \u2014 and ultimately to take a course of action in design that is my own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you could say anything to Boeri today, what would it be? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would ask her if she would like to come and work on a fashion collection with me.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Explore More by Faye Toogood and Cini Boeri<\/div>\n\t\t\t
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