Faye Toogood Drops Two New Collections at Rude Arts Club

Guests amidst the hustle and bustle of Milan Design Week 2024 were granted a moment of respite with the Rude Arts Club exhibition tucked away on Piazza Santo Stefano. The space was reimagined in honor of two collaborative collections by British designer Faye Toogood with the debuts of Cosmic and Rude. Cosmic is Toogood’s first furniture collaboration with Tacchini, while Rude is the third rug release in an ongoing partnership with cc-tapis.

“These two collaborative collections have been transformative for the Toogood studio,” the eponymous designer says. “Combining the unparalleled craft and unwavering support of cc-tapis and Tacchini with my own design language has felt like a creative rebirth. Although both collections are entirely distinctive, I wanted to harness the enduring art school ethos of utopian collaboration.”

The exhibition space was decked out as a house of rooms, each decorated to showcase the designer’s latest works. Many of the colorful plush rugs were mounted directly on the walls, while daybeds and sofas invited visitors to collapse into their soft forms. Those who explored further had the opportunity to experience more than the finished collection. Toogood’s creative process, including hand-painted artworks of Rude and scaled models of Cosmic, were also displayed.

Cosmic is a furniture collection focused on irregular, elliptical shapes that are exceedingly soft. Covered in DEDAR fabrics, Toogood’s unique sense of design and style shine through in these everyday pieces.

“Immersed in this setting, visitors not only see the products but [also] experience them, feeling the inspiration and creative energy permeates every corner of the club,” shares Giusi Tacchini, CEO and Art Director of Tacchini. “This context undoubtedly provides a more immersive experience compared to a traditional installation, allowing visitors to interact with the exhibited objects tangibly. The result is an extraordinary experience that blends Faye Toogood’s vision with Tacchini’s exceptional know-how.”

I didn’t want to do something expected. Rugs can end up bland. Background. Something you pile furniture on, forget about, [and] stomp all over. I’m proposing something much bolder.

– Faye Toogood, Founder and Designer, Toogood Studio

The sculptural, irregularly-shaped rugs of Rude feature a variety of textures and pile heights. And cc-tapis eagerly takes on Toogood’s experimentations and challenges, learning themselves how to envision new possibilities through the collaborative process. The designer was inspired by a visit to see Francis Bacon’s paintings, and was attracted to the intense color choices and visceral nature of the work.

“It’s not necessarily the shapes or subjects in the paintings that I wanted to reference, but the feeling the exhibition gave me that lingered in my guts,” she shares. Toogood gave these elements her own spin, incorporating them into the rug collection in a way that’s cheekily profane and suggestively profound.

“Yes, I am poking fun, but I am also making a statement about what it means to inhabit a body. And what that means personally for me: an artist inhabiting a female body that is changing. As time passes, I feel connected to my body in a different way, and I see beauty and sexuality from a wildly different perspective.”

To learn more about those involved with bringing the  Rude Arts Club exhibition into fruition, visit cc-tapis.com, fayetoogood.com, and tacchini.it.