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Design Milk’s Friday Five profile features Toast CEO Suzie de Rohan Willner discussing five influences, including Anni Albers, Ruth Asawa, Philip Johnson’s Glass House and William Mitchell. She also describes Toast projects centered on community, performance and garment renewal, including a Spring/Summer 2026 collection launch and a planned Fall/Winter 2026 collection.
Toast CEO Suzie de Rohan Willner has outlined five artistic and architectural influences, from textile artist Anni Albers to Philip Johnson’s Glass House, in a Design Milk Friday Five interview that also highlights the brand’s recent creative projects. Her account links an interest in material experimentation and craft to Toast initiatives involving garment repair and reuse.
De Rohan Willner named Albers, sculptor Ruth Asawa, architect Philip Johnson’s Glass House, sculptor Isamu Noguchi and the sculptural doors at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral among the influences she returns to. She said Albers’s transformation of textiles into a respected art form, and her emphasis on experimenting directly with materials, inform her own perspective on design.
She described Asawa’s looped-wire sculptures as combining strength and lightness, and said Noguchi’s work across sculpture, furniture, lanterns and gardens shows how an artist can move between mediums while retaining a distinct voice. The Glass House, in New Canaan, Connecticut, stood out to her for its glass walls and relationship between the interior and surrounding landscape.
De Rohan Willner also discussed her stepfather, William Mitchell, whose sculptural doors at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral reflect his use of concrete as an artistic medium. She said Mitchell researched the historical significance of places and answered it with modern forms. The interview pairs those influences with Toast projects, including the Renewed collection made with textile artist Meta Struycken from returned or damaged garments and fabric remnants.
How Craft Shapes Toast’s Work
The profile connects de Rohan Willner’s personal references to the clothing brand’s stated interest in repair, reuse and handcraft. Toast Repair, Renewed and Reworn are described as ways to treat damaged or unwanted garments as materials for visible mending, alteration and reuse rather than immediate disposal.
The connection is relevant because the interview presents these activities not only as product initiatives but as part of a broader creative approach: testing what materials can become and extending their use. The source describes the projects and the CEO’s perspective, but does not provide figures on participation, garment volumes or environmental outcomes. Their scale and measurable impact cannot be assessed from the profile alone.
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From Artistic References to Brand Projects
Design Milk introduced the interview as part of its Friday Five series, which asks participants to share five inspirations. The report says de Rohan Willner grew up in a creative family and that Toast Creative Director Laura Shippey introduced her to painter Lee Krasner. De Rohan Willner was struck by Krasner’s practice of reworking fragments of earlier paintings, which she compared with Toast’s interest in giving existing materials another use.
The projects covered span different dates. For Spring/Summer 2025, Toast held A Lightness of Being at Somerset House in London, featuring installations and a performance by dancers Francesca Matthys and Masumi Saito. For the Spring/Summer 2026 launch, the brand returned to Wales for A Shared Table, a locally produced luncheon on farmland near Llansteffan Castle. The source also outlines Marking the Turn as the theme for Toast’s Fall/Winter 2026 collection.
“She believed design is learned through direct experimentation with material. She asked what the material wanted to do before asking how it should look.”
— Suzie de Rohan Willner on Anni Albers
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What the Profile Does Not Measure
The interview is a personal account and brand profile, not an independent evaluation of Toast’s programs. It does not state how many items have been repaired, renewed or reworn, nor does it quantify material savings, customer participation or environmental effects. Details such as the full schedule and outcomes of the Fall/Winter 2026 collection are also not provided.
The source says Meta Struycken created eight full-size pieces for the first Toast Renewed By capsule using returned and damaged Toast items and studio remnants. It does not give production totals, sales figures or information on whether the capsule will continue in the same form.
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Toast’s Fall/Winter 2026 Collection
The next project described in the report is Toast’s Fall/Winter 2026 collection, titled Marking the Turn. The brand says it will draw on seasonal rituals and gatherings, using handcraft, color and forms inspired by the practical functions of the past. The source does not provide a release date, collection size or further event details.
For readers following the repair and renewal work, the profile offers no separate announcement of future program changes. Any assessment of how those initiatives develop will depend on further information from Toast, including details about the garments handled and the results of the projects.
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Key Questions
Who is Suzie de Rohan Willner?
Suzie de Rohan Willner is Toast’s CEO. In the Design Milk Friday Five interview, she discusses artists, architecture and brand projects that shape her perspective.
Which five influences did she name?
She named Anni Albers, Ruth Asawa, the Glass House, Isamu Noguchi and the sculptural doors at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, associated with her stepfather, William Mitchell.
What is Toast Renewed?
The profile describes Toast Renewed as a project using returned or damaged Toast items and fabric remnants to make new pieces. The first capsule included eight full-size pieces designed by textile artist Meta Struycken.
What is Marking the Turn?
Marking the Turn is the stated theme of Toast’s Fall/Winter 2026 collection. The brand says it explores seasonal rituals and gatherings through handcraft, color and practical forms.
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