DESIGN INTERSECTION

from est Magazine issue #43 | Design Intelligence

KELLY’S WORLD

DESIGN INTERSECTION

WORDS Rachelle Unreich CURATION Jack Seedsman

What happens when designers hopscotch between fashion and design? This iconic trio learned that it’s possible to go from one to another without compromising their design aesthetic.

OWENS RICK

At first glance, the fashion collections of American designer Rick Owens – dubbed “The Lord of Darkness” for his gothic aesthetic, look nothing like his furniture. The clothes are edgy and sculptural, but also wearable. As for his chairs and beds, for example, the pieces are similarly brooding and edgy, but are they comfortable? That isn’t top of Rick’s ethos, who says he tends towards things that look “timeless and noble,” opting for gravitas rather than sentimentality. The through-line? Everything he touches is a show-stopper. And nothing he does is overdone; that would not be in line with the strength he aims to show. “It’s a doomy era,” he told the New York Times even before the pandemic landed. Perhaps that’s why he veers to monotone colours, especially black, and even his neutrals bear weight. His goal? He once said it was to “elevate the mundane.”

**Rick Owens Swan Armchair (Natural Plywood) / 2018**

**FW21 GETHSEMANE Girdered down bomber jacket**

**SS22 FOGACHINE objects | Rick Owens Fork**

**SS22 FOGACHINE objects | Rick Owens Tea Spoon**

Courtesy of Rick Owens FW21 GETHSEMANE, Look 02

FAYE TOOGOOD

As a designer of furniture and objects, Britain’s Faye Toogood understands how to create pieces that will have a cult following. Take her Roly Poly Chair, and the Puffy Lounge Chair designed for Hem – their names give you a sense of her playfulness, but what customers really loved was the notion that pieces could be both edgy and inviting. A decade ago, she turned her hand to fashion design together with her sister Erica and these days her clothing complements her furniture: her crumpled dress, for example, could be a sartorial version of her crumpled armchair. Toogood’s pieces are all stripped down, often highlighting the irregularity of the materials or their raw forms. She told Matches Fashion, “Every time we do a collection, we’re trying to challenge the norm. Objects and clothes that don’t dominate, fit into different environments, and make you feel great.”

**01. The Beachcomber Jacket / Quilt Flint, Birkenstock x Toogood**

**03. The Beachcomber Shorts / Quilt Flint, Birkenstock x Toogood**

**02. The Beachcomber Sandal / Nappa Chalk, Birkenstock x Toogood**

**04. Puffy Lounge Chair / natural and cream steel, Toogood x Hem**

Image courtesy of Hem. Photography by Heiko Prigge

**Maquette 234/Canvas & Foam Sofa,designed by Faye Toogood, 2020.**
Photography Angus Mill, courtesy of Friedman Benda and Faye Toogood

ANN DEMEULEMEESTER

When Ann Demeulemeester walked away from the Belgian brand that she started with her husband Patrick Robyn – whose hallmark was being moody, romantic, ethereal and a study in monochrome – she turned to another kind of design, producing homewares including porcelain dinner dishes. “I wanted to leave myself time to try another kind of life,” she explained. I wanted to be vulnerable again. To be starting out, finding something difficult.” Having since stepped back in as an adviser for the label, there’s a clear symmetry between her fashion and furnishings. Her lights, for example, using very fine porcelain ribbons to make them distinctive and reflective; in her clothing, ribbons also played a notable role. Whatever the case, she has always made people reconsider their views on certain things – such as her use of the colour black. “Black is not sad,” she has said. “Bright colours are what depresses me. They’re so empty. Black is poetic.”