Birkenstocks have become even more wearable since quarantine, when the remote workforce enthusiastically embraced the home office uniform: leisurewear. Still, the family-run business, founded by cobbler Johann Adam Birkenstock in 1774, is keeping one foot in the high fashion pool where previous collaborations with Proenza Schouler and Rick Owens have proved successful.

For its most recent partnership, Birkenstock teamed up with Faye Toogood on a sculptural bed made of the same materials as the German brand’s sandals—cork, leather and canvas—as well as three new styles for the iconic Arizona sandal, and a casual ready-to-wear collection in colors like stone, chalk, and the darker-toned flint. Birkenstock x Toogood is everything you’d imagine: a cohesive collection designed with the sole unifying purpose of comfort in mind. In advance of the launch, Surface sat down with Toogood to discuss her overarching vision for the collaboration, her own Birkenstock history, and the Puffy Chair’s influence on her remix. Read the interview.

Have a news story our readers need to see? Submit it here.

When the pool has its own house. You could swim up to your new home sooner than you think. #TheNextMoveIsYours

When: Until Aug. 8

Where: The Whitney Museum, New York

What: Julie Mehretu’s monumental canvases often contain monumental themes—capitalism, war, colonialism, diaspora, geopolitics, climate change, and revolution—and often all at once. Declared one of the greatest artists of her generation and one who helped reinvent abstraction for the 21st century, the Ethiopian-born abstract painter now enjoys a sweeping mid-career survey that presents the most thorough overview to date of her practice.

More than 30 paintings and 40 works on paper spotlight her innovative abstraction technique, in which she overlays wire-frame architectural drawings multiple times across the canvas that clash with smudged hand-drawn lines made with watery black calligraphy ink. Liberated from any sort of confines, her canvases are marked by a tremulous psychodrama that beckons viewers to spend long, intimate moments relishing in their many layers.

Creativity runs in the blood of Helena and Natasha Sultan, who channel their disparate backgrounds in documentary filmmaking and jewelry design to helm the ascendant design studio Konekt Furniture. Through an innate shared eye and aesthetic, the mother-daughter duo have dialed up their interests in narrative, sculpture, and craftsmanship to create an arresting portfolio of ultra-refined furniture and lighting marked by contrasting textures, centuries-old artisanal techniques, and the imperfections found in natural materials.

This month, Surface will partner with NTWRK to launch a two-day design fair that enables artists and designers to connect with consumers in an innovative virtual setting. Surface will curate a lineup of creators to showcase luxury products on NTWRK’s innovative platform through live shoppable video streaming where design-savvy consumers can watch, chat, and shop from the convenience of their mobile device. The programming, or festival, will take place on April 25–26 and will be hosted by the Surface editorial team.

The Savannah College of Art & Design is hosting “Countdown,” an exhibition by Rose B. Simpson that features four imposing figures peering out of vitrines into the street.⁣ These androgynous totems, which are hand-made in clay and laser-cut metal, seem to float weightlessly and serve as emblems of the reality that empowerment isn’t synonymous with liberation, celebrating sovereignty and the supreme power of place.

Reach the design world every morning. Find out more about advertising in the Design Dispatch.

Stickbulb’s sleek, modular LED fixtures are made in New York City with wood salvaged from local buildings and sustainably managed forests. Conceived as a way to “build with light” by design studio RUX, Stickbulb lends itself to endless configurations and customization.

Surface Says: Stickbulb combines a commitment to sustainable lighting with a strong aesthetic, using naturally finished wood to create bold, geometric forms.

Cindy Sherman translates her self-portraiture into tapestries for the first time.

This phone case gives your device the satisfying texture of a cheese grater.

In a case of life imitating art imitating art, SNL’s NFT sketch is now an NFT...

...while David Hockney thinks NFTs are simply for “crooks and swindlers.”