'Tutti-Frutti' thumbnail 1
'Tutti-Frutti' thumbnail 2
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images
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Furniture, Room 133, The Dr Susan Weber Gallery

This object consists of 3 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

'Tutti-Frutti'

Stool
1990 (designed), 1993 (manufactured)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Allison Thomas was still a student at the Royal College of Art in London when she designed the 'Tutti Frutti' stool. The design initiated from a brief by her tutors to reflect on the physical and abstract qualities of their class neighbour. Thomas' intention was a piece of furniture where the internal structure depends upon the upholstery becoming the overall design. The stretched fabric conceals the tubular steel structure as well as the upholstery, determining the form and appearance of the stool. The initial idea of the design, however, was developed in a modelling process using golf balls which Thomas glued together and stretched fabric over them.
After selling thirty examples at her graduation show, she sold stools in the UK, the Netherlands and the USA. The small batch production of three versions of the stool (low stool, bar stool and perch) was made by the designer herself.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 3 parts.

  • Stool
  • Cover for Stool
  • Cover for Stool
Title'Tutti-Frutti' (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Tubular steel frame, chipboard, moulded foam, Dacron and calico, jersey
Brief description
'Tutti Frutti' stool designed by Allison Thomas, 1990, with pink and blue upholstery
Physical description
Three legged stool completely covered with stretched fabric.
The stool is based on an inner structure of three tubular steel legs which are connected to the corners of a triangle of flat steel bars which have in their middle small extensions for a screw fitting to fix the structure up into an triangular MDF base. This base and the upper part of the structure are covered in thick foam upholstery moulded to shape a seat characterised by three swellings. The upholstery is made in two sections providing stability to the seat shape; the top with the three swellings is a solid piece which is glued onto a piece similar in plan, with its base cut out to allow the insertion of the triangle of MDF (glue connection). The seat shape is moulded in foam in a glass fibre mould. The entire seat upholstery is covered in Dacron (polyester) and calico. The whole stool is covered in a stretchy lycra textile, wrapping seat and legs completely, and closed with a zip-fastener on the inner side of each leg. The feet each sit in a rubber cover.
Dimensions
  • Height: 51cm
  • Width: 39cm
  • Depth: 34cm
Production typesmall batch
Gallery label
‘Tutti-Frutti’ stool 1990 Allison Jane Thomas (born 1965) England Manufactured 1993 in London Tubular steel frame and MDF Upholstery (original): moulded foam, polyester fibre (Dacron), calico with Lycra covers and plastic zips Museum no. W.24-1993 Synthetic foam can be expanded into a mould rather than cut to shape. Here, the seat shape was formed in two sections, upper and lower, each shaped in a fibreglass mould. The lower section was reinforced with MDF, which sits on the steel frame. Polyester wadding and calico were then stapled to the seat. (01/12/2012)
Object history
The 'Tutti Frutti' stool developed in Thomas' final year at the Royal College of Art. She sold thirty examples at her degree show. Since then she has been able to market the stools in England, the USA and Holland. The idea came from a project during which the tutor suggested that the students think of the physical and abstract qualities of the person sitting next to them. Thomas developed the idea of the stool through gluing golf balls together and stretching fabric over them. The light-hearted name and witty anthropomorphic shape relate the stool to furniture by leading contemporary designers like Philippe Starck and Ron Arad. The stretched upholstery conceals the steel-frame and moulded foam construction. It has a sculptural form alien to the precepts of modernism and 'revealed construction'. As Thomas recalled she wanted to create an "internal structure which relies upon its outer upholstery to become the overall design". (Interview by Gareth Williams, 19 august 1993) The bright, monotonal and stretchy upholstery relates the stool to 1960s Pop furniture.

In the above interview, Thomas explained that it is expensive to have the tubular steel frame made in London and she has to reduce those costs by altering the way in which the frame is attached to the MDF base of the upholstery (in prototypes frame has metal discs at top of legs which screw into MDF). Later versions have instead simpler lugs welded to the rails between the top of the legs.
The two sections of the seat are moulded in form in a glass fibre mould. The top with the three swellings is glued onto a similar piece which has the centre triangle underneath cut out to allow the insertion of the MDF (glue connection). A single moulded piece of variegated density foam would have been more expensive.

There are three models of the stool: a low stool (most popular), a bar stool (same head size but higher) and a perch (height like bar stool but smaller head). Thomas had also developed a low stool with an upholstered top and revealed metal legs and a floor cushion made of two of the foam moulds glued back to back.

Art galleries picked up on the stool first. Thomas found this too rarified and approached furniture retailers like Liberty's to stock it. A hairdressers in Camden Town was furnished with Tutti Frutti stools. The retailers did not keep many pieces in stock. She also makes stools to order. She keeps a stock of frames and foam elements. She also keeps bolts of fabric and cuts the patterns herself. A seamstress makes up the covers for her.

Historical significance: The V&A do not usually collect student work, but this design was so successful that it was selected for the collection. The museum acquired two covers in different colours. They represent the various characters of the stool's design, both organic and erotic.
Historical context
Allison Thomas claimed in an interview that she was surprised by the success of the stool and was not interested in marketing and making a lot of money from it. Her real interest when designing the stool was in finding constructional solutions. (Interview by Gareth Williams, 19 august 1993)
Production
The finial upholstery required a material which stretches longitudinally and latitudinal. Thomas used 100 % cotton lycra, which is washable and removable. Eight (primarily and tertiary) colours were offered but red and blue were most popular. Thomas also made a leather covered example.
There are three models of the stool: low stool, bar stool (the same head size, but higher than the low stool), perch (as high as the bar stool, but smaller head). About 100 low stools have been made. 10 examples of the bar stool version have been made but only a few were sold.
Summary
Allison Thomas was still a student at the Royal College of Art in London when she designed the 'Tutti Frutti' stool. The design initiated from a brief by her tutors to reflect on the physical and abstract qualities of their class neighbour. Thomas' intention was a piece of furniture where the internal structure depends upon the upholstery becoming the overall design. The stretched fabric conceals the tubular steel structure as well as the upholstery, determining the form and appearance of the stool. The initial idea of the design, however, was developed in a modelling process using golf balls which Thomas glued together and stretched fabric over them.
After selling thirty examples at her graduation show, she sold stools in the UK, the Netherlands and the USA. The small batch production of three versions of the stool (low stool, bar stool and perch) was made by the designer herself.
Collection
Accession number
W.24-1993

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Record createdSeptember 25, 2000
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