Having worked with designer Faye Toogood on the sets for the Kenzo SS12 show, Carol and Humberto called on Faye again to create a unique series of furniture pieces for the OC London store. Combining the characteristics of OC with those of Studio Toogood, her interior and installation firm, Faye and her team have created a cabinet, two tables, and chairs for the store. I gave Faye a call last week to chat about the pieces, the artists and designers that fascinated her as a little girl and student, and the many things she hoards. And this is just the beginning! Check back later this week to see some of Faye's favorite spreads from World of Interiors, where she cut her teeth as a stylist for nine years.
Gillian Tozer: Let's talk about the pieces installed at the OC London store.
Faye Toogood: I wanted to create pieces that use temporary, ubiquitous materials that reflect the pop-up flavor of the shop. We used a lot of salvaged materials: things that we had in the studio and things that we found. It was quite a different challenge. Normally, we have a few months to produce one piece and it goes through a laborious testing process. This was much more instinctual and instant, and actually we really enjoyed that.
GT: A Studio Toogood piece is instantly recognizable—your aesthetic is as precise as OC's. How did you go about combining the two?
FT: Because of the time factor, we didn’t get to sit down and go through the building plans, talk about the collections stocked at the store, or discuss the other furniture present in the space. I had to work quite instinctively with regards to what I know about Opening Ceremony. For me, OC sums up youthfulness, energy, and diversity. I’ve been to the New York and LA stores and I'm familiar with the in-house collections, both past and present, and they always have Carol and Humberto’s energy flowing through them. Everything is always new, fresh, and unexpected. I think there’s a synergy and a like-minded thought process between OC and Studio Toogood. We’re working with three-dimensional objects and you're working with garments, but the process and approach are the same. I wanted the furniture to work as a canvas for the space. I knew the store itself and the products would provide color and pattern, so I wanted to create cleaner pieces that concentrated on materials.
GT: I particularly love the cabinet and the way it plays with the unexpected.
FT: The cabinet is a nod to a dressing table based on my Cage for Birds from the collection currently on display at Phillips De Pury. The wiring allows transparency; it reminds me of a mathematical formula we used to do at school and it has that old French knitting feel.
GT: I remember those mathematical wheels! I loved them!
FT: Yes! I wanted the materials to feel very immediate and temporary, as a shape, as a piece, and as a concept. Then there are the Element Tables, which are the two tables that have three pieces of geometry. I’ve done many editions of this table. We thought it would be really fun to have a throw-away feel to the materials, but found that the materials actually have great beauty to them when placed in clean compositions.
GT: I read that you went to Bristol University, what did you study?
Gillian Tozer: Let's talk about the pieces installed at the OC London store.
Faye Toogood: I wanted to create pieces that use temporary, ubiquitous materials that reflect the pop-up flavor of the shop. We used a lot of salvaged materials: things that we had in the studio and things that we found. It was quite a different challenge. Normally, we have a few months to produce one piece and it goes through a laborious testing process. This was much more instinctual and instant, and actually we really enjoyed that.
GT: A Studio Toogood piece is instantly recognizable—your aesthetic is as precise as OC's. How did you go about combining the two?
FT: Because of the time factor, we didn’t get to sit down and go through the building plans, talk about the collections stocked at the store, or discuss the other furniture present in the space. I had to work quite instinctively with regards to what I know about Opening Ceremony. For me, OC sums up youthfulness, energy, and diversity. I’ve been to the New York and LA stores and I'm familiar with the in-house collections, both past and present, and they always have Carol and Humberto’s energy flowing through them. Everything is always new, fresh, and unexpected. I think there’s a synergy and a like-minded thought process between OC and Studio Toogood. We’re working with three-dimensional objects and you're working with garments, but the process and approach are the same. I wanted the furniture to work as a canvas for the space. I knew the store itself and the products would provide color and pattern, so I wanted to create cleaner pieces that concentrated on materials.
GT: I particularly love the cabinet and the way it plays with the unexpected.
FT: The cabinet is a nod to a dressing table based on my Cage for Birds from the collection currently on display at Phillips De Pury. The wiring allows transparency; it reminds me of a mathematical formula we used to do at school and it has that old French knitting feel.
GT: I remember those mathematical wheels! I loved them!
FT: Yes! I wanted the materials to feel very immediate and temporary, as a shape, as a piece, and as a concept. Then there are the Element Tables, which are the two tables that have three pieces of geometry. I’ve done many editions of this table. We thought it would be really fun to have a throw-away feel to the materials, but found that the materials actually have great beauty to them when placed in clean compositions.
GT: I read that you went to Bristol University, what did you study?