Sponsored by IBA
HONORARY
Designer of the Year
FAYE TOOGOOD
Ph
ilip(^) S
ind
en
A 2009 COLLABORATION with Tom Dixon
may have nudged Faye Toogood towards
the limelight, but she’s been standing on
her own two feet ever since. Here we are,
ten years later, and the art historian-turned
stylist-turned designer has unquestionably
honed her craft.
Indeed, craft is what Toogood does
best. While many of her peers attempt to
predict the future, this designer is firmly
rooted in the present while having no
qualms about looking to the past. ‘The his-
tory of art taught me about storytelling and
composition,’ she told Frame in 2013, ‘and
that it’s okay to look back.’
What makes Toogood’s interiors so
contemporary is their sheer physicality. In
the same interview, she spoke of her fascina-
tion with making and materials, referring to
herself as a ‘tinker’ who plays with contrasts:
‘the precious and the raw, the masculine and
the feminine’. Masculine versus feminine was
part of her vocabulary before she designed
Agender, a 2015 concept store for Selfridges
that questioned long-held assumptions
about gendered clothing. The shop was
among the first of its kind, and many brands
followed suit.
In recent years, retailers have faced a
bigger issue: how to pull people into physi-
cal stores in the age of e-commerce. The
consensus so far? By offering an experience.
It’s an art in which Toogood excels, as
evidenced by recent boutiques for the likes
of Carhartt and Mulberry. Tactile spaces
infused with a story: that’s where interiors
seem to be heading, to a place Toogood has
been all along. – TI
fayetoogood.com
PEOPLE'S VOTE
Brinkworth
86 FRAME AWARDS 2019