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Design Milk’s Friday Five profile features Toast CEO Suzie de Rohan Willner discussing five artistic and architectural influences, including Anni Albers, Ruth Asawa and Philip Johnson’s Glass House. She also describes Toast projects involving community events, textile renewal and seasonal collections.
Toast CEO Suzie de Rohan Willner has shared five artistic and architectural influences, from textile artist Anni Albers to Philip Johnson’s Glass House, in a Design Milk Friday Five profile that also outlines several recent Toast projects. Her selections connect craft and experimentation with the company’s stated work on garment repair, renewal and reuse.
De Rohan Willner’s five inspirations are Albers, sculptor Ruth Asawa, the Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, sculptor Isamu Noguchi, and the sculptural doors at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. She describes Albers as an example of how textiles could move from traditional craft into recognized art, and says Albers’ approach began with experimenting directly with materials.
She also points to Asawa’s looped-wire sculptures, which she says combine strength with apparent lightness, and Noguchi’s work across sculpture, furniture, paper lanterns and public gardens. On the Glass House, designed by architect Philip Johnson, she highlights its full-height glass walls and the way they connect the interior with the surrounding landscape. The cathedral doors have a personal connection: William Mitchell, the artist behind them, was de Rohan Willner’s stepfather.
The profile also describes Toast projects across events and clothing. For its Spring/Summer 2026 collection, A Shared Table, the company held a locally produced luncheon on farmland near Llansteffan Castle in Wales. Its Spring/Summer 2025 event at London’s Somerset House included installations and a dance performance. Another project, Toast Renewed by Meta Struycken, used returned or damaged Toast garments and studio fabric remnants to make eight full-size pieces using techniques such as embroidery, appliqué and quilting.
How Craft Shapes Toast’s Projects
The profile offers a view of how the company’s leadership connects artistic references with its public presentation of Toast’s work. De Rohan Willner links Lee Krasner’s practice of breaking apart earlier paintings and reusing their fragments with the company’s Repair, Renewed and Reworn initiatives, which she says treat damaged or unwanted garments as material for alteration and continued use.
That connection is relevant to readers interested in how fashion brands frame repair and reuse: the article gives specific examples, including Struycken’s capsule of eight pieces, rather than only describing those ideas in general terms. It does not provide figures on the initiatives’ scale, garment volumes or environmental effects, so it should be read as a profile of creative direction and projects, not an assessment of their measurable impact.
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The Influences Behind the Profile
Design Milk presented the interview as part of its recurring Friday Five series, which asks guests to share five sources of inspiration. The article says de Rohan Willner grew up in a creative family and that art, design and craftsmanship continue to inform her work at Toast. Her list spans modern art, sculpture, architecture and a family connection to public art.
The profile also places those influences beside projects associated with different collection seasons. The Wales luncheon launched Spring/Summer 2026; the Somerset House gathering celebrated Spring/Summer 2025; and Marking the Turn is identified as Toast’s Fall/Winter 2026 collection theme. The source does not give specific event dates beyond describing the Wales luncheon as taking place “this past spring.”
“She believed design is learned through direct experimentation with material.”
— Suzie de Rohan Willner on Anni Albers
What the Profile Leaves Unspecified
The article is an interview and project overview, not a report on business performance. It does not say how many garments are handled through Repair, Renewed or Reworn, how much material is diverted from waste, or how the company measures the projects’ results. It also does not provide independent evaluation of the initiatives’ environmental effects.
Some timing and implementation details are absent. The source gives no exact date for the Wales luncheon, further schedule for the Fall/Winter 2026 collection, or information on whether the Meta Struycken capsule will be repeated. Those details cannot be established from the supplied material.
Toast’s Upcoming Seasonal Work
The source names Marking the Turn as the theme for Toast’s Fall/Winter 2026 collection, describing it as a reflection on seasonal rituals and gatherings, expressed through handcraft, color and forms inspired by past everyday functions. It does not announce a launch date or provide a release schedule.
Beyond that collection description, the profile does not identify a specific next event or milestone. Readers can expect further details only if Toast or Design Milk publishes them; the article itself makes no additional announcement about future repair projects or collaborations.
Key Questions
What did Suzie de Rohan Willner discuss with Design Milk?
She named five creative influences—Anni Albers, Ruth Asawa, the Glass House, Isamu Noguchi and the sculptural doors at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral—and described several Toast projects.
Who made the sculptural doors at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral?
Artist William Mitchell made them. De Rohan Willner said Mitchell was her stepfather and that his work continues to influence her.
What is Toast Renewed by Meta Struycken?
According to the profile, it is a capsule collection of eight full-size pieces designed by Dutch textile artist Meta Struycken using returned or damaged Toast items and fabric remnants from her studio.
What is Toast’s Fall/Winter 2026 collection theme?
The theme is Marking the Turn. Toast describes it as exploring seasonal rituals and gatherings through handcraft techniques, color and forms that refer to past functional objects.
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