Ooh yes, today is the day! The ooh noo day! I am so happy to show you more about this company. I am sure you know it, I am sure you love it, I am sure you were waiting for this portrait.

This multiple Design Awards winner brand is based in Slovenia and known everywhere. Since many years ooh noo has a success story to tell.

No matter if you need something for your nursery (toys, furniture, toy chest), for your bedroom (bedding, pyjamas) or home & decor (kitchenware or textiles) ooh noo has everything to make your life more beautiful and comfortable. Most of them are suitable not only for your home, but are also perfect for a picknick in your garden or a funny day at the beach during holidays.

Did you know that ooh noo toy pram is one of the most popular toys on Instagram? No wonder, right? The design of this beautiful pram is based on the shape of a crescent moon. Its timeless design is suitable to every nursery and can be used in different creative ways. For small children it can be a cozy space for the dolls and cuddly toys, later on it can be used as a moveable cute book shelf and much more. Just let your imagination play…

Once you had a linen bedding you can’t use anything else. Why? Because it is sustainable, durable, natural. Linen is mostly grown in Europe, the fibers in linen fabric are long and durable, so when they are wet, they retain their shape. Linen keeps you warm when it is cold outside and let your skin breathe if it is too hot. Linen become softer after each wash and looks wonderful and natural without ironing. By ooh noo you will find beautiful linen bedding for adults and kids. Even for your dolls!

My favorites are the alphabet blocks! They are a creative way to learn first words with your children. We are using them almost every day and it is so much fun to create new words or just build a tower. And they smell so lovely – an incredible wood aroma! They are also very decorative, so you can use them for giving  a unique touch to certain corner of the room.

Nina Mihovec is the charming and powerful woman behind the ooh noo. I am so proud to introduce you here Nina and her creative team.

Photo credit: ooh noo

Dear Nina, please tell us a little bit about of you and your team.
Our team is a team of enthusiasts who like to design nice products and like to believe we also make the world better. We like to believe that we educate children through our products and help start teaching them about design in their early stages .

So everything has started with an idea to create beautiful bedding, right?
Yes!
Yes, everything started when some years ago, I couldn’t find a nice kids bedding. There were brands but then they had very local dimensions. I did a lot of research about materials and the procedures. And then we just said, we want to try to see and test the grounds. After some time things evolved and got bigger and bigger and we saw that the marked liked our designs. At that time it was pretty niche, the monochrome style. Now of course you can find beddings of all sizes and designs as you wish.
But we keep believing in natural materials and in quality of the making and keeping everything very local. Our production, our sourcing, our designs, etc….

How did the ooh noo team members come together?
Before ooh noo, there was and of course still is, a team of designers and engineers. The company’s first steps were in the year 2000. after some time, the team grew bigger and also projects . in 2014 we started with the bedding and at the beginning ooh noo was very tiny. Only a few people worked on it, and even this was beside the other projects. When the brand was evolving, more and more of the team member’s time was needed, so we formed a team, dedicated only to ooh noo projects.

I love the name of your Label, why „ooh noo“? : -)
Can you believe that nowadays it is difficult to find something that does not exist? I wanted the name that would sound more masculine, at the beginning I was also all into unisex style . I like to laugh and make jokes, and the inspiration got from those child’s years when they say No for everything. I am sure you know this? And these no no no years still didn’t end with my kids. Oh no!

Which is the main idea or vision behind ooh noo?
Main idea is to make sustainable toys for kids, to educate them in the sincere principles of good design from their early years.

Where did you get your inspiration for new designs?
New designs?
Ooh, I have so many ideas but I also believe company should grow slowly. So many of the ideas are waiting for their time to come. I get inspiration from stories, from traveling, from observing kids , from watching cartoons with them (in fact, many of inspirations came from there).

Which one is the „ooh noo favourite” of your children?
I think they outgrew now all of them, but they did play a lot with alphabet blocks. They of course had many, from the very first prototype, to the second prototype, to the prototype of a new supplier……so a lot of blocks in our house. They used to build towers and once they even made a giant pyramid.

What ooh noo means personally to you?
At the beginning , I wasn’t sure into what the project (yes at the beginning it was like a small project) will evolve. But of course I was very emotionally attached to it and I put all of myself and twice as more into it. I still do, but you know, when the company grows you have to deal with other issues like cash flow, supply chain, sourcing, sales strategies, company culture and good team spirit.
Once you have good brand identity and awareness, it gets more important to keep it and to keep going and to survive.
Ooh noo was a product from our development studio and we won 4 Red Dot Design Awards for 4 different ooh noo toys. This means a lot to us and I take it as a proof also that we did the right designs . So personally what it means, it is equally important part of our business as the other part: Product design and engineering studio.

What do you wish for ooh not in the coming years?
We would like to strengthen our position in certain markets, we would like to launch new products, we would like one day to have a brick and mortar store ,… isn’t it so that one must always dream?

Dear Nina, thank you so much for this interesting interview. We wish you all the best for ooh noo, let all your wishes come true!

Ooh, you can imagine how honored I feel to be the first blogger showing you the brand new ooh noo creation – the beautiful dolly cot! How cute is this please!

This sweet dolly cot is available with canopy and linen bedding. My favorites are Freestyle and Starry Nights. And yours?

Enjoy the beautiful universe of ooh noo!

Best wishes from France,

Arminka

 

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In collaboration with ooh noo.