British design brand Deadgood is entering a new chapter with the launch of several new products, furniture “passports,” and a refreshed London showroom courtesy of creative studio Trifle*. Leading the charge is Lollipop, Deadgood’s latest chair. A robust timber piece that takes its cues from the humble wooden lolly stick, it has a super-light silhouette and a playful aesthetic.
“With a background in designing for ‘emotional durability’, I’m always looking to inject a sense of fun or nostalgia into furniture,” says Vicki Leach, Deadgood’s design director. “Creating that instant, subconscious connection is the ultimate way to spark joy.”
The chair uses traditional joinery techniques, with each component pressed from plywood, striking the perfect balance between character and durability. “While the chair is playful and a little irreverent, it is also aesthetically mature and structurally robust,” adds Leach. “It’s a bit of a chameleon; I can see it working beautifully in a high-end restaurant, a museum, or a contemporary workplace.”
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The Lollipop chair has been rigorously tested to the EN 16139 contract standard, signaling an intent to see it placed in high-traffic public spaces. Leach notes that the chair’s structural integrity allows it to function well in diverse environments, ranging from commercial hospitality to corporate offices.
Established in 2004 by university friends Dan Ziglam and Elliot Brook, Deadgood has built a reputation for thoughtful, expressive design. The studio’s relationship with plywood goes back more than 20 years to its very first product, the Form Chair. “Fast forward to today, and we’re still not tired of it – it’s an incredibly versatile material that we love experimenting with,” says Leach.
For the Lollipop Chair, the brand uses locally sourced, FSC-certified timber manufactured in Poland. Finding the right partner was a challenge; while ply-pressing is a common process, few manufacturers in the UK have the specialized set-up required for a design this complex. Partnering with the right experts in Europe allowed the team to achieve the perfect balance of technical precision and sustainable sourcing.
Expanding the Collection
Lollipop arrives alongside more new launches. The original Folk sofa family has been expanded with a smaller, more flexible sibling that offers two heights and an integrated shelf. The HB Table, a collaboration with London studio AtelierThirty Four, mixes playful 1960s shapes with architectural logic. And Wall’s End, designed by Heirloom, introduces mobile partitions for flexible workspaces.
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The new launches can be seen at Deadgood’s two-storey Clerkenwell space, which has been refreshed by Trifle* in time for Clerkenwell Design Week. The studio also now offers a Design Conformity Furniture Passport for all its pieces.
An infographic presents easy-to-understand information about the furniture’s carbon footprint, while a QR code offers the opportunity for a deeper dive. “From day one, we’ve tried to do right by the planet,” says co-founder Elliot Brook. “Circular thinking, furniture built to last, a local supply chain and a platform for young British designers.”
When they collaborated with Design Conformity on their lifecycle analysis, they were told passports were heading into legislation over the next few years. Brook explains that the decision to document the whole range was a proactive step toward future compliance. “The traffic-light system means that you can see at a glance whether a product is doing right or wrong by the planet, with the full data set behind a QR code for ease of access. That’s the point. Document circularity so people actually get it, and the right products become easier to specify.”
