interview: faye toogood on womanifesto! as designer of the year 2025 at maison&objet

interview: faye toogood on womanifesto! as designer of the year 2025 at maison&objet

FAYE TOOGOOD IS MAISON&OBJET’S DESIGNER OF THE YEAR 2025

 

Maison&Objet names Faye Toogood Designer of the Year during its 2025 spring edition, recognizing her multifaceted approach spanning art, craft and fashion. In her WOMANIFESTO! installation, on view at the fair from January 16-20, the British designer presented a deeply personal journey that explores her subconscious, blending surrealism with her signature sculptural forms. Divided into four thematic areas – drawing, sculpture, materials, and landscape – the installation reflects Toogood’s evolving design philosophy, where contrasts of light and dark, nature and artifice, and feminine energy redefine the creative process.

 

In an exclusive interview with designboom, Faye Toogood guides us through her installation, reflecting on how embracing feminine energy is influencing her work and reshaping the future of design‘WOMANIFESTO! is a manifesto for myself, but also for other women designers coming up behind me,’ the designer tells us. ‘I feel that we haven’t been entirely free in the way we’ve been able to work, and I want to address that.’

interview: faye toogood on womanifesto! as designer of the year 2025 at maison&objet
Maison&Objet recognizes Faye Toogood as Designer of the Year 2025 | all images courtesy of Toogood

 

 

REVISITING THE TOOGOOD STUDIO’S ARCHIVE THROUGH SURREALISM

 

As Maison&Objet’s Designer of the Year 2025, Faye Toogood is celebrated at the trade show for her polymorphous career, which has led her studio to become a hub for bold, interdisciplinary work that spans fashion, furniture, craft and fine arts. Her installation, WOMANIFESTO!, presents a surrealist reimagining of her own archive where past collaborations and iconic pieces are revisited and transformed into ephemeral, site-specific artworks.

 

When discussing the influence of surrealism on her installation, Toogood explains, ‘I approached the theme by playing with surrealism, tapping into that dream-like state. I think this installation is probably the closest I’ve come to a surrealist presentation because it’s an expression of what’s happening in my unconscious mind.’

interview: faye toogood on womanifesto! as designer of the year 2025 at maison&objet
WOMANIFESTO! by Faye Toogood presents a surrealist reassable of her studio’s archive | image © Celia Spenard-Ko

 

 

A WALK-THROUGH WOMANIFESTO! WITH THE DESIGNER HERSELF

 

Stepping into WOMANIFESTO! offers a glimpse into Faye Toogood’s evolving perspective as a designer and artist. The installation is divided into four thematic pillars: drawing, sculpture, materials, and landscape – each representing a crucial element of the Toogood studio’s DNA. Her attention to geometry and form is a defining feature of her designs. However, she pointed out that her fine art background, particularly in painting and drawing, is less known. The combination of handmade expression, which she refers to as the ‘painted hand,’ is her intent to connect people more deeply with objects and design.

‘People are familiar with the sculptural side of my work, but they may be less aware of my fine art background in painting and drawing. I’m now starting to merge the sculpture side with drawing, revealing the painted hand. I believe this is something we need more of, to help us connect to objects and design in a deeper way,’ explains the designer as we enter her installation WOMANIFESTO!

interview: faye toogood on womanifesto! as designer of the year 2025 at maison&objet
drawings help the designer foster a deeper connection to design | image © Celia Spenard-Ko

 

 

The sculpture section features collaborative pieces the designer has created with brands such as Tacchini, Poltrona Frau, and Hem. Entirely designed in black, the space reflects Toogood’s ongoing exploration of light and dark, masculine and feminine, natural and crafted. This tension has defined a pivotal shift in her career, marked by the Roly Poly chair, where she moved from rigid, angular designs to softer forms and textures, which became more closely aligned with her identity as a female designer. The black walls symbolize a pause in her journey, signaling a new era for both her creative expression and the design world.

 

‘You need darkness to understand light. It’s a play between contrasts. I think there’s a resurgence of black, actually, because we’re approaching a sort of full stop. We’re at the end of one era and about to enter another. Black feels like a fitting punctuation, a moment of pause. It’s reminiscent of the early 20th-century modernists, who often used black as a way to signal a fresh start – a kind of “enough, now we begin again,”’ she says, explaining her color choice and reflecting on the shift in her design language. ‘Roly Poly was the beginning of me embracing my identity as a female designer more openly. From that point on, it’s been a series of moments that have brought me to where I am now. I feel more comfortable and free than ever to express everything that’s happening in my head.’

interview: faye toogood on womanifesto! as designer of the year 2025 at maison&objet
the sculpture area features Toogood’s iconic designs reimagined in all-black materials | image © Celia Spenard-Ko

 

 

Moving on to the next space, Toogood shares, ‘The materials room represents the heart of the studio. Everything we do is centered on materials, and the self-portraits I’ve created here reflect that. I’ve worked with different manufacturers and craftspeople to bring these pieces to life, and they’re a tribute to the importance of materials in my work.’

 

For the designer, materials are a playground, offering endless possibilities for assembling, collaging, and experimenting. Alongside the sculptural self-portraits, she showcased smaller maquettes – early prototypes for her clothing designs – and items from her fashion archive, linking her exploration of materials to her broader creative output. This section of the installation encapsulates her belief that materials are the foundation for innovation across all her disciplines, from furniture to fashion.

interview: faye toogood on womanifesto! as designer of the year 2025 at maison&objet
Toogood uses materials as a creative playground, exploring form and substance | image © Celia Spenard-Ko

 

 

The final section of the installation, centered on landscape, captures the designer’s deep connection to nature and its influence on her design philosophy. Featuring a forest of hand-made, tree-sized cardboard sunflowers, it evokes the elemental energy of the natural world that has long informed her creative process. This room, as she explains, is a response to the growing disconnect from nature, an homage to the earth in the face of advancing technology and AI.

 

‘The landscape room focuses on nature and the importance of reconnecting with the earth. I believe that with AI and technology advancing, there’s a risk of losing our connection to nature. My palette for this room is inspired by the landscape, and it serves as an homage to the natural world,’ ends Faye Toogood our exclusive tour around WOMANIFESTO!

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hand-made cardboard sunflowers depict a surrealist landscape | image © Celia Spenard-Ko

With a background in Fine Arts, Faye Toogood has long been known for her bold, sculptural work, yet her journey has been one of constant reinvention. Initially hesitant to let gender influence her design, Toogood now recognizes the power of bringing feminine qualities into her creative process. 

 

‘I believe the shift comes from the world expecting and needing something different from design now. We no longer need purely functional solutions – those can be provided by computers or robots. What we need more of is emotion, humanity, and expression – qualities that women naturally connect with. I think the world is ready and asking for more of that nurturing, all-encompassing, gentle, and caring touch, which aligns with a more female perspective,’ she comments.

interview: faye toogood on womanifesto! as designer of the year 2025 at maison&objet
WOMANIFESTO! lets visitors explore the designer’s inner world, symbolizing a new era for women in design

 

 

For Toogood, we stand at the crossroads of a new era – one where the evolving role of women and the embrace of feminine energy are redefining the design landscape. With WOMANIFESTO!, she invited visitors to reconsider design’s true purpose and its impact on the world around us. Reflecting on the challenges confronting the industry, the designer emphasizes, ‘I hope people understand that design isn’t just about objects – it’s about the world we create with them. We’ve gotten used to overlooking how, where, and why things are made, but we can’t continue this way. We need to stop and question the systems we’ve built. That’s why I keep returning to the idea of a full stop –we need to reevaluate what we’re doing. The old ways of designing, manufacturing, and distributing aren’t sustainable. I want people to leave questioning what design is, what it should be, and the role of the designer moving forward. We may not have all the answers yet, but it’s essential to start asking the right questions.’

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excerpt of Faye Toogood x Calico Wallpaper, Moors

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project info: 

 

name: WOMANIFESTO!

designer: Faye Toogood | @t_o_o_g_o_o_d

event: Maison&Objet | @maisonetobjet

dates: January 16-20, 2025

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