Noritake celebrated a bold new era at Milan Design Week 2025 with the launch of the Noritake Design Collection at ALCOVA at Villa Borsani. A highlight of the debut was Faye Toogood’s Rose collection, which reimagines Noritake’s archival elements through a contemporary lens. Beyond her limited-edition designs, Toogood art directed the immersive exhibition space, harmonizing the brand’s diverse new collaborations.
Ceramics hold a deep significance for British designer Faye Toogood. Sculptural and primary, formed by hand from the earth, designed for daily habitual use and yet often imbued with
talismanic meaning for the beholder – as craft disciplines go, it is hard to find another that is more intrinsically entwined with the four concepts integral to Toogood’s creative practice: drawing, material, sculpture and landscape. When Noritake, globally renowned for exquisite porcelain and tableware, invited Toogood to visit its historical Nagoya home to explore a potential collaboration, she soon recognized how profoundly these foundational pillars resonated with the innovation and craftsmanship of this storied Japanese brand.
“Working with Noritake feels like such a natural progression for me,” said Toogood. “Viewing their extensive archive, I was fascinated to discover some of the more avant-garde and organic
pieces, particularly from the 1930s. I’m excited to continue the rich legacy of this cultural exchange with Noritake.”
Toogood’s studio has explored many disciplines since its inception in 2008. In recent years, Toogood’s narrative has deepened with a poetic embracing of color and pattern. This evolution continued with Noritake. “I am developing natural and botanical artworks inextricably linked to the landscape and will be working with Noritake’s master artisans, experimenting with techniques to apply to existing moulds,” she said.
Toogood’s emphasis on the powerful connection between the head and hand is a philosophy very much aligned with Noritake’s design ethos which “still finds meaning in holding a ‘brush’”, with the start of a design “always ‘drawing’ by ‘hand.’” She developed a soft, refined watercolor inspired wash in a gentle, quintessentially English palette of Moss greens and Pale Lichen, over which Toogood will layer a loose, floral abstract using Noritake’s distinctive, eco-friendly Rosa Rossa red paint.
