Hello!
Isabella here - my beautiful mum started OiOi and I would love to share with you her inspiring story of how our little business began.
24 years ago when my mum was pregnant with me she was told to get a nappy bag.
Back in 1997, nappy bags were truly daggy (picture patchwork prints, teddy bears and all!) so my Mum decided to keep using her existing "little black handbag" instead.
After not very long, Mum realised that although this option was "stylish" it made organising all of the things she had to carry for her new baby very difficult.
She was on maternity leave from her job as a fashion buyer at the time and so she thought - "why not design my own nappy bag?" And so, mum got cracking on a design that would reflect her style & keep everything organised.
She used cardboard cutouts to help her create the most intuitive layout, sourced a beautiful & durable microfibre fabric, designed useful matching accessories to include in the bag and registered the brand name OiOi (which she used to say to me to get my attention as a baby).
After using her perfected nappy bag prototype for a number of months Mum was ready to take the leap of faith - ordering 500!
With a very full garage, mum popped down to the local maternity store with her "incognito" nappy bag.
"I'll take six!" the shop owner said.
A new generation of nappy bags was born!
The response was incredible: the first stockist re-ordered within a week, Mum was stocked in a leading department store at the end of the first month, and by 2000 international markets were knocking at OiOi's door wanting to stock The nappy bag!
Growing up, I always saw Mum as a very cool fashion designer.
I loved "contributing" my own prints that I designed on Microsoft Paint (they ended up on the fridge rather than bags, but I did sometimes nail the colour palettes!), would use sample scraps to sew little outfits for my teddy bears - and when I was old enough I was very lucky to accompany her on a few work trips including visits to our factory (who we still work with today!).
I never thought I would end up working at OiOi - and neither did she - but in March 2020 I decided to take my own leap of faith and give it a go.
I redesigned the website, reconnected with the stockists who knew me as a little girl, started talking daily with our incredible factory and worked with Mum to develop our best range yet: listening to the feedback & needs of our wonderful community.
I am incredibly humbled to be able to work alongside my beautiful, strong mum. Every day, I am learning from her and feeling more passionate about OiOi than ever.
I am so grateful to every person in our community - it is your feedback and encouragement that has solidified that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.
Thank you for your interest in our products and enjoy browsing the range.
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