TL;DR
Toast CEO Suzie de Rohan Willner shared five influences spanning Anni Albers, Ruth Asawa, the Glass House, Isamu Noguchi and William Mitchell in a Design Milk interview. She also described Toast projects involving garment reuse, community gatherings and seasonal collections.
Toast CEO Suzie de Rohan Willner discussed five sources of creative influence, including textile artist Anni Albers, architect Philip Johnson’s Glass House and sculptor William Mitchell, in an interview with Design Milk. The feature also connects those interests in material, experimentation and craft with recent Toast projects focused on garment reuse, public installations and community gatherings.
De Rohan Willner’s five inspirations span several forms of art and design. She said Albers showed how textiles could move from traditional craft into respected art, and valued the artist’s practice of learning through direct experimentation with material. About sculptor Ruth Asawa, she pointed to the contrast between looped wire’s industrial strength and the lightness of the resulting forms.
She described the Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, as an example of architecture that dissolves the boundary between indoors and landscape. She also cited Isamu Noguchi’s movement among sculpture, furniture, lanterns and gardens, and the sculptural doors at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral by her stepfather, William Mitchell. She said Mitchell’s work joined research into a place’s history with a modern, tactile approach to concrete.
The interview also features Toast projects. For the launch of its Spring/Summer 2026 collection, the company returned to Wales for a locally produced luncheon on farmland near Llansteffan Castle. Another project, Toast Renewed by Dutch textile artist Meta Struycken, made eight full-size pieces from returned or damaged Toast garments and fabric remnants, using techniques including embroidery, appliqué and quilting.
Craft and Reuse in Toast’s Work
The interview offers a view of how de Rohan Willner links personal artistic influences with Toast’s stated approach to design. Her comments about Albers, Asawa and Mitchell emphasize attention to material and process; the Renewed capsule puts that emphasis into a specific project using existing garments and fabric remnants.
That connection matters to readers following the company’s creative direction and its repair and reuse efforts. Toast says initiatives such as Toast Repair, Renewed and Reworn treat damaged or unwanted clothing as material for mending, alteration or reuse. The feature describes examples, but does not provide data on how many garments these programs handle or their environmental effects.
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From Artistic Influence to Projects
Design Milk presented the interview as part of its Friday Five series, which asks participants to share five sources of inspiration. The source says de Rohan Willner grew up in a creative family and that art, design and craftsmanship continue to inform her work as Toast’s chief executive.
The feature also links her interest in reuse to a conversation with Toast Creative Director Laura Shippey about artist Lee Krasner. De Rohan Willner said she was struck by Krasner’s practice of cutting up earlier works and making new compositions from their fragments. The article presents this as a parallel with Toast’s approach to extending the life of materials, rather than as a direct account of a specific business result.
Among the other projects mentioned, Toast’s Spring/Summer 2025 event, “A Lightness of Being,” took place at Somerset House in London. The company staged installations and a dance performance by Francesca Matthys and Masumi Saito. The Fall/Winter 2026 collection, titled “Marking the Turn,” draws on seasonal gatherings and folk traditions, according to the interview.
“She believed design is learned through direct experimentation with material.”
— Suzie de Rohan Willner, on Anni Albers
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Reach of the Reuse Programs
The feature provides no figures for the volume of clothing repaired, renewed or reworn through Toast’s programs, nor does it quantify waste reduction or other environmental outcomes. It also does not specify the scale or distribution of the eight-piece Meta Struycken capsule.
The source is an interview and company-project roundup, not an independent assessment of Toast’s initiatives. Its descriptions establish what projects the company presented, but do not verify broader claims about their impact or customer participation.
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Seasonal Collections Ahead
The source describes Toast’s Fall/Winter 2026 collection, “Marking the Turn,” as centered on seasonal rituals and gatherings, with folk traditions reflected in its craft techniques, colors and forms. It does not give a release date or further details about availability.
The interview does not announce a new program or upcoming event beyond the projects it covers. Further information about the scale of Toast’s reuse work, future Renewed collaborations or the collection’s release would need to come from later company announcements or reporting.
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Key Questions
What did Suzie de Rohan Willner discuss in the interview?
She named five influences: Anni Albers, Ruth Asawa, the Glass House, Isamu Noguchi and the sculptural doors at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral by William Mitchell. She also discussed several Toast projects.
What is Toast Renewed by Meta Struycken?
According to the interview, the capsule comprises eight full-size pieces made by Dutch textile artist Meta Struycken using returned or damaged Toast items and fabric remnants. The pieces use handcraft techniques including embroidery, appliqué and quilting.
What does the interview say about the Glass House?
Willner described Philip Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, as an example of architecture that connects interior life with the landscape through its full-height glass walls.
Does the source measure the impact of Toast’s repair and reuse programs?
No. The feature describes Toast Repair, Renewed and Reworn and gives examples of work, but provides no participation, garment-volume or environmental-impact figures.
Source: rss
