Bright pink hues make up Faye Toogood’s Collection 02. Finding its design cues in the colourful works of Canadian American painter Philip Guston, the collection celebrates electric-bright, life-giving pinks
Photography by Clare Shilland
Words by Sonia Zhuravlyova
‘Because I didn’t train in design, there are no rules,’ says Faye Toogood of her spring/summer fashion line, Collection 020. A London-based design polymath, Toogood worked as Interiors Editor at The World of Interiors for eight years before starting her eponymous design studio in 2008. Her work now runs the gamut from interior design, homewares and fine art to fashion, and is rarely constrained by a defined way of creating. Her sister Erica, a pattern cutter, joined her in 2013 to work on clothing. ‘Working on the Toogood clothing collection isn’t a separate discipline for me, it falls equally under everything Icreate, and I feel lucky to be in a position where this could take the form of a coat, interior or a table,’ explains Toogood.
Toogood’s aim was always to crosspollinate ideas and disciplines in order to create something fresh. ‘Our studio is made up of fine artists, product designers, sculptors, architects. You could have an architect working on a coat, which makes what we do so interesting; an architect is going to give you a different response from a fashion-trained eye, often creating an unexpected result – one that questions form and silhouette.’
Her foray into fashion came about from a desire to create easy-to-wear pieces for her friends and family. Collection 020 takes its cue from 20th-century artist Philip Guston, who went through a distinct pink period. It features her signature pieces – shirts, jackets, coats, trousers and gilets – but this time in electric pinks: cerise, gum and icing set against greys and blues. ‘I love how Guston restricted himself to a very specific palette and represented the world around him,’ she says. ‘In my own way, with this collection, I’m trying to restrict and reaffirm what I feel is important about Toogood. I think we are often considered quite a monochrome brand and I wanted to chuck that in the bin.’
Photography by Clare Shilland
Her studio was one of the first to make what Toogood calls ‘universal clothing’, which aims to be inclusive of all genders, relatable for all ages and adaptable for all bodies. ‘The conversation [around fashion] has become more interesting, but there’s still so much to be done. So I guess I’m just trying to stomp my feet and set my own parameters. I’m excited about breaking down some of the labels that may be associated with not just Toogood, but how we’re wearing our clothes at the moment,’ she says. Many of the designs from the sisters’ early collections – The Photographer Jacket, The Draughtsman Shirt, The Baker Trouser – are revisited for spring/ summer.
‘Erica and I have very different skills; she is a trained pattern cutter, so it was her scissor hands and my sculptor’s head coming together. We describe ourselves as “the tinker” and the “tailor” – creating looks that one can imagine comfortably sitting in a Roly-Poly Chair, or at a Toogood dining table. The clothing line is also the link to our lineage. Sewing alongside our grandmother, a seamstress who “made underwear out of parachutes” during the war, is what inspired Erica’s career.’
Their fabrics are sourced from mills in Italy, the UK and Japan that specialise in particular fibres, weaves and finishes. For Collection 020, Toogood introduced a new lightweight cotton-silk blend for more dressed-up looks, while a new creased cotton twill – a highly textural fabric – gives a lived-in feel to jackets and trousers. There are also limited- edition pieces where bold and playful stripes and tailor tacks and basting stitches are handpainted onto garments.
Looking ahead to the next season, Collection 021 will tell the story of an urbanist who heads out into the wild in pursuit of adventure. Their wardrobe takes inspiration from technical and performance wear – ancient and modern. ‘The collection took me out into the beautiful wild,’ says Toogood. ‘I did not want to look at the landscape through a window. I wanted to be like Turner, strapped to the mast of a ship crashing into the storm.’
The story originally appeared in ICON 215, Spring/Summer 2024. Get a curated collection of design and architecture news in your inbox by signing up to our ICON Weekly newsletter
