Woodworker Robby Simon is reimagining Black American craft traditions—and the stories behind them—as contemporary collectible designs.

For Robby Simon, embracing heritage craft techniques isn’t just about honoring or preserving the past—it’s also about reinterpreting age-old wisdom for a contemporary audience. “Traditional handicrafts are living archives. They preserve knowledge that often isn’t written down and connect us to generations of makers who solved problems with their hands, creativity and resourcefulness,” says the Atlanta-based founder of woodworking studio Play.Room. “In my community, so many crafts have deep roots that we as Black Americans almost subconsciously carry forward without acknowledging.”

Robby Simon with a selection of his designs for Play.Room, including the Toadstool chair and Dragonfly side tableArtimio Black