Design of the Month: March Spotlight

Ľudmila Fintorová, textile toy Monkey, 1978-1980

Ľudmila Fintorová is a Slovak designer and sculptor, known primarily as the author of textile toys, in which she combines her creativity, skill and ecological approach. She has been creating toys since her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava (abs. 1978). Her first collections from the 1980s were intended mainly for preschool and school-age children. She designed them as interactive tools that, thanks to their cut, could also be assembled at home. Her textile toys are haptic tools, often made from recycled materials or from leftover fabrics or old clothes.

The Monkey toy, as well as other toys from the collection, are also complemented by other materials that allow them to be shaped and adjusted. The animals are given either a neutral facial expression or their heads are double-sided with different facial expressions, and the playfulness is enhanced by combining colors. Although Ľudmila Fintorová’s work stopped for a long time, in recent years she has returned to it and created new collections of interactive toys for children with autism and special needs.

This textile toy is part of the collections of the Slovak Design Museum.