Story

Okidoki Original was founded in 1989 and started out as a mail-order company with homemade soft toys for kids. My background was working at H&M as a designer after studies at Beckman's School of Design in Stockholm. With Okidoki Original I returned to my main interest – making soft toys.

 

As the business grew the line of bears and rabbits where made on a small factory and sold through many toy stores around Sweden. Eventually the factory closed down and after a quick attempt to make the toys in Thailand the production slow down.

After a couple of years when the kids where born a new start with a new collection of collectible more expensive animals where launched. A new boiled wool fabric was used which could be dyed at home in many brilliant colors. The new collection was discovered in Japan and I attended several Teddybear Shows over there. In 2006 the Tyra the Panda received the TITA-Award in Tokyo!

In London they had regular Teddybear Shows twice a year which I attended for many years. New designs and themes where made and I got colleagues all over the world who also made toys for collectors. Since many years my animals has popped up every Christmas in Chelsea Textiles window display in London. Many different themes have been done, in 2017 they built a whole circus.

In 2010 my first book for children was published, Nalla och Björn bygger en drake, and it won the prize of honor in a big competition for childrens books named Castorpriset. It was also nominated for the best debut 2011. There are three books in the serie with two bears on adventures, photographed in real miniature settings. Two books where translated into Danish and Finnish.

 

In 2017 I started a shop together with my friend Helén named Lek&Sak at Stora Gråbrödersgatan 13 in the central of Lund in Sweden. In the shop I sell my wooly animals aswell as the big collection of soft baby safe animals in velour, all made in my workshop. In the shop there is also a big selection of quality toys for all ages and selected clothes for babies and small children.