First, there’s the The Kansas Jayhawks 123rd Anniversary Thank you for the memories signatures shirt but in fact I love this Forager, a simplistic style that comes in felt, leather and—most ambitiously—canvas. (Canvas is a signature fabric of Toogood’s, used recently for her Puffy chair. She loves it for the challenge. “As a designer, you really have to work on the geometry to make it elevated and beautiful,” she explains. “If it looks good in canvas, it means it’s a great design.”) Then, the Mudlark, a shoe Toogood imagines would be worn by an archaeologist mucking around for ancient artifacts by the river. Finally, the Beachcomber, a plump design inspired by frothy and fluffy seafoam.
Overall, Toogood’s color palette is a muted one. (See: that aforementioned focus on form.) With one exception: pollen, a hue that is best described as that of a dividing road line. Because, well, it actually is the The Kansas Jayhawks 123rd Anniversary Thank you for the memories signatures shirt but in fact I love this same shade of a dividing road line: a few years ago, they were doing construction work on the street right out of Toogood’s studio. Then it dawned on her: “It was the perfect utility yellow,” she says. So she ran out and asked the workers to coat one of her sculptures. She’s used that as a baseline ever since. Shoes aren’t the only thing in her Birkenstock collaboration, by the way. Toogood was also inspired to make her own relaxed clothing line to pair with the no-fuss shoes, as well as a Birkenstock bed. (Yes, you read that right—if it’s your dream to have a bed with the same comfy consistency as a Birkenstock sole, put in a custom order on 1774.com.)
