Toogood Openhouse

This is not a showroom. Toogood’s studio is a constant work in progress, and a home for restless experimentation. The team live in, live with prototypes and samples across clothing and furniture. Does it work? Does it last? Always striving to tweak, refine, remake, remix. A masking tape maquette sits atop a pile of greyboard archive boxes. The calico toile for a new jacket hangs next to hand painted canvas backdrops, just back from a dismantled installation. “Materials are a playground. Assembling, collaging, clashing them. Creating coats out of cling film or silver gaffer tape or dustbin liners. Thinking up a collection that's entirely made of mud… this is the real fun part of the process for me. There's a big area dedicated to materials in the studio, I've always called it my jewellery box. I’ll pull pieces from this library and see how they talk to each other. If you can make something look good on canvas, it will look good on cashmere. A huge part of my work has been focused on creating “wow” out of ubiquitous, simple, basic materials. Cardboard, paper, tape and tin.” – Faye Toogood During TOOGOOD OPENHOUSE, the studio will present a new collection of GUMMY designs. These new pieces are part of Assemblage 08: Back and Forth. Assemblage 08 introduces two new furniture families: GUMMY and PALETTE. GUMMY is the first upholstered furniture from Toogood – sculptural and soft seating built with bold and generous proportions. PALETTE is a curving, playful new table showcasing local artisan woodwork. Entirely made in Britain using natural and sustainable materials, Assemblage 08 is a celebration of heritage craft and trades. “Back and Forth is an exchange between designer and maker, history and future. I set out to find the absolute best of British. And I found them. Assemblage 08 celebrates the knowledge and heritage of artisan makers. Skills passed down from one pair of hands to another, through generations. It has been a privilege for the Toogood Studio to collaborate with these bastions of craft. We look back to stride forth.” – Faye Toogood TOOGOOD OPENHOUSE is a unique opportunity to catch a glimpse of an unconventional studio at work. Welcome, and come in! Make yourself at home, but please don’t be offended if we cannot shake hands – ours are likely covered in clay.