designer alex riggs

Alex Riggs, founder of Oobi Baby&Kids.

What better way to start a Monday than facing cheery colours and cute babies. Just think - this is the kind of environment that Alex Riggs, talented owner of Oobi Baby&Kids, surrounds herself with every day. It's no wonder her office was featured on the September 06 cover of real living.

Alex's work proves that when you're true to yourself and your interests that life gets interesting. She started Oobi as a label for brainy babies, producing Dictionary Definition tees, "Fact Sheets" (sheet sets with facts printed on them) as well as educational toys and games. The key was incorporating her love of bright, bold colours. In no time at all Oobi was picked up by Harvey Nichols, Top Shop and Nordstroms among other retailers in Sweden, Amsterdam and Japan. Amazingly the company is still only a four-person operation. Alex says, "Everyone is very hands on - it's a business of friends who work together and share a unique passion and retro aesthetic."

What five words describe you? Retro, disorganised, fun, colourful and exhausted.
What's your proudest achievement? Being on the cover of real living.
Who inspires you? Talitha Getty & Jane Birkin - fashion icons; Nadezhda Mandelstam - Russian writer; Caillebotte - painter; Alvar Aalto - designer.
What are you passionate about? Education, fashion, art, puzzles, cinema.
What’s the best lesson you’ve learnt? I don't learn lessons, I make mistakes over and over and over.
Which person living or dead would you most like to meet? Paul Theroux - on holiday.
What are you excited about? Wearing a dress I bought recently in New York - no fitting occasion yet (being that couture and watching telly don't tend to mix).
What’s next? A trip to Croatia and Italy - on the search for hand-made lace and quirky trims and buttons.

Photos courtesy of Alex Riggs.