Come play

It is a hot summer day in Germany when Sarah Meyers repeatedly jumps out of the frame during the Zoom call to show new patterns, glazes or fabric samples. Sometimes she pans the laptop around the studio, sometimes she wipes the camera clean with a smile. Meanwhile, Laura Fügmann describes precisely what can be seen: weaves, surfaces, refractions of light. The conversation turns into an intimate exploration of materials. The light dances on the textiles – they are observed, felt, played with. And in the end, it's clear: this isn't just a place of work. It's a place of research. This is how the conversation with Meyers & Fügmann begins. And it's no coincidence that ‘Come and play!’ sounds almost like a slogan from their studio. They are referring to their Berlin studio in Mitte, which is somewhere between a workshop, a laboratory and a cabinet of curiosities – and their attitude, which has become a rare commodity: honest curiosity.

Meyers & Fügmann have made a name for themselves with projects that go beyond the surface. Their latest coup: a series of curtain fabrics. Two years in development, a uni made from recycled polyester, a spherical digital print on heavy cotton and a woven colour gradient inspired by the fading of natural colours in sunlight. They call the artistic research behind it ‘slow patterns’ – fabrics that don't reveal everything at once. Just like the two of them. And like so many things that last, their story doesn't begin with a finished pitch, but with an open question. ‘We often work with a toolbox of experiments,’ says Sarah Meyers. ‘But what comes of it is decided in dialogue.’ This can start with a dye that reacts to light – or with a woven structure that unfolds into a sculptural form. Sometimes their textiles end up as digital prints, sometimes as objects that cannot be categorised. ‘We are sometimes too bold for the classic design market,’ says Laura Fügmann. ‘Too functional for the art world.’

A fluid understanding of design

Yet it is precisely this middle ground that is their strength. After more than ten years of working together in the studio, the two not only complement each other – they drive each other forward. Laura is the intuitive technician. Sarah is the material-obsessed researcher – who also talks about ‘material porn’. Together, they design objects that do not submit to functionalist dogma, but ask questions: Why does a textile have to stay the same? Why can't ceramics react with dye? The fact that both were trained at the Berlin-Weissensee School of Art and the Sandberg Instituut – with stints in surface design, ceramics and glass – is more than a biographical footnote. The transfer from material to material is not a stylistic gimmick, but a method. ‘A textile pattern can also lead to a glaze,’ they say. And what inspires them is not social media or the latest mood board, but the DIY store (Sarah) and colour field painting (Laura). Inspiration as a state of mind, not a trend.

Colour as a field of research

To understand how deeply Meyers & Fügmann delve into material research and colour perception, take a look at two current projects: Komplementärzustände (Complementary States), their installation with Berlin-based colour manufacturer Kolors, and the Frequency fabric collection, created for Kvadrat Residential. In Komplementärzustände, colour is not understood as a static attribute, but as a dynamic interplay of light, structure and perception. Woven swatches and material experiments form a poetic, physical play of colours. Inspired by Josef Albers and Robert Wilson, the loom becomes an instrument for mixing colours – and the textile object a medium between theory and intuition. Her textile research ‘Fades made to fade’, presented last year at the Lobe Block in Berlin, takes this even further. The colour gradients unfold over time, visible only in interaction with the sun's rays – a silent, almost meditative transformation. A textile that does not want to be read immediately, but lives. And one that poetically blurs the boundaries between decoration and interaction.

‘The exciting thing is that the material thinks along with its surroundings,’ says Sarah. ‘It reacts, it evolves. And that's exactly where its potential lies – for spaces where change is part of the concept.’ The applications range from temporary installations to architectural textiles, from hotel lobbies to curated interiors. The two are currently continuing their research into UV technology with the aim of developing new variants, colour depths and textile behaviours. ‘Why do fabrics have to remain in the same form and colour for twenty years, while the patina of wood and leather is celebrated?’

Cooperation instead of presentation

What sets Meyers & Fügmann apart is their approach to industry. They don't see collaborations as an end point, but as the beginning of an exchange. They don't arrive with finished products, but with materials, sketches and samples. ‘We bring things to show and touch – sometimes even things we can't quite explain ourselves. But you can see immediately what someone is interested in,’ says Sarah. They see enormous potential in companies in German-speaking countries in particular. ‘Many companies have immense knowledge, deep material expertise – and often a great openness to new ideas,’ says Laura. The appeal for them lies in weaving this wealth of experience into their experimental approaches. Not as a contradiction, but as mutual enrichment – across manufacturing methods, needs and ways of thinking. ‘We enjoy working with people who can do something we can't,’ they say. 

Thanks to their long-standing collaboration with Hella Jongerius and their master's degrees in Amsterdam, they have a European perspective on design. ‘In the Netherlands and England, the term “design” is used much more openly,’ says Laura. ‘Here in Germany, we often feel the need to see results. Not processes.’ But it is precisely the latter that is important – also in terms of funding. Formats such as the now discontinued Designfarm Berlin scholarship programme, which supported studios like theirs through experimental phases, are lacking today. What remains unchanged is the creative energy – and the hope that the understanding of design in Germany will change and grow.

So, what's the takeaway from chatting with Meyers & Fügmann? The desire to take on a project again. But above all, an attitude: that design isn't just about the beautiful end result, but the lively process of getting there. Maybe that's exactly what's needed for design in Germany to breathe again. Fewer statements, more conversations. And definitely more of a desire to play.