It may seem paradoxical that the notion of being out of its functions forever triggers an entrepreneurial company.
But for Céline Kaplan and Elisabeth heightOOOF is a brand built on a state of mind rather than on a real work arrangement (or its absence).
“When Covid occurred, we were all out of the office, which I still like,” explains Kaplan, a publicist who divides his time between Portugal, France and New York. “The idea was what we wanted to do: go from the local office to leave the office forever. It was the starting point, and Covid pushed it a little further.”
A pillow embroidered with oof.
Courtesy
Although the brand is built from the feeling of permanent holidays, it was in fact their career that brought them together.
“We met 15 years ago because Celine was my PR when I ran LadéeAnd we are very used to working together after all these years, “explains Holder.” About two years ago, we had this conversation around what we have to do. We like to travel, we like to discover new brands to buy and see things that no one has. »»
Holder says that the genesis of the brand took “about five minutes”, noting that the name resounded for English speakers and French speakers. “We did this brainstorming, Celine thought in terms of communication and I in terms of marketing. The name was strong, the design was great, and that was everything. It is a sentence that we use a lot. »»
And so, a company was born. OOOF launched in 2023 with a collar charm shaped with a pinball machine and has since grown to involve brand ceramic cups, caftans modeled by Kaplan and pillows embroidered with sentences like “Bla Bla Bla” and “Oh yes!” On the brand’s website. Prices vary from $ 25 for a keychain at $ 780 for the charm of the necklace.
The launches are more involved in intuition than by a business plan. “We don’t follow a marketing calendar because we don’t have to do so,” says Kaplan. “We are going on a trip, discovery, reading, exhibitions – everything can be an inspiration.”
OOOF brand cups.
Courtesy
Add the holder: “It’s all about lifestyle and pleasure to our customer by having the best product at the best time. Of course, we could follow a marketing calendar, but what is fun is to be completely free. ”
The pillows, for example, came from a friend of the duo who has a charity workshop in Senegal called CSAO. “We asked him to make a special collection for us,” explains Kaplan. “It’s all about possibilities, and the next step is a very small drop in everything that inspired me during my stay in India.”
The brand is based on collaborations like those with CSAO. In this vein, OOOF also offers bag charms in collaboration with jewelry Brand Don’t Let Disco, which was founded by Ashley Harris in 2021 and who obtained materials from Italy, Spain and Mexico. Limited edition caps that go by the name of the brand have been manufactured in Cova Do Vapor, a fishing village near Lisbon.
Although portable, Kaplan considers launches as being more on the opportunity than the function. “Our first collection was the charm of Flipper Gold 18-Marat. It’s useless, and at the same time, everyone needs it, ”she says. “We do this in enamel. It is in production while we are talking. ”
Kaplan may be inspired by the brand image of his professional life as a publicist, but says that overlap between his two jobs is sparse.
“It was a big learning curve for me to talk about an inventory,” explains Kaplan. “I trust my instinct, but with customers, it can be a little different and we must obey certain rules. With OOOF, I apply my freedom of creation to the brand without any constraints. ”