AT WORK WITH: FAYE TOOGOOD

There are only a few subtle signs that announce you have arrived at the new studio of British designer Faye Toogood. Stepping into a courtyard through wrought iron gates in Borough, south London, there is a brick wall half-painted in “Drab” by Farrow & Ball—a somber greenish brown hue that the studio often uses. A series of cube-shaped ceramic stools—Cobble, from 2023—with rounded edges in glossy neutrals is arranged around a worktable scattered with tools; a deer skull rests on an occasional table beside the entrance. A curious door handle—a cast bronze fox skull from Toogood’s Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones collection created for Izé in 2010—welcomes you inside. Each detail hints at the tactile, slightly surreal and talismanic design language that Toogood has become known for.

Inside, the seven-person team is busy inspecting a prototype lamp with a paper shade. The studio is made up of just two main rooms painted in pale neutrals: an office and open-plan kitchen, and a flexible studio space for meetings, experiments and making. A large communal table sits in the center of the studio area while shelves are lined with models, maquettes and material samples. Toogood’s own seats and lamps create informal meeting corners around the room. Hanging from the ceiling is a giant textile koinobori—a carp-shaped wind sock—that the designer found at an antiques market in Japan and carried home in a suitcase.