Riina Õun started as a footwear designer and maker, creating her first pair of shoes already whilst 17 years old. In the mid-2000s her interest was in hand-making wearable concept shoes, with more than 50 imaginative pairs in her portfolio.
Riina later expanded her work into other types of leather accessories and in 2013 launched Riina O brand, specialising in the handmade luxury leather gloves. Since 2019 the brand expanded into sustainable materials research and development within the circular economy. Riina O explores how craft has to adapt to working with bio-materials, with the goal of bringing the materials out of the experimentation stage into practical use in the industry.
Riina Õun is the creative director, a multi-disciplinary designer, and a materials researcher behind the Riina O brand. Her background is a BA in Leather art and accessories design from the Estonian Academy of Arts, followed by an MA in Material Futures at Central Saint Martins, specialising in bio-design.
Riina Õun is also a visiting lecturer teaching glove-making and sustainable materials workshops at academic institutions around the world. A few of the universities include the London College of Fashion, Royal College of Arts, Central Saint Martins, Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Kolding Design Institute, Academia Koefia in Rome, Beijing Academy of Creative Arts as well as organisations such as Norwegian National Opera & Ballet and London Craft Week to name but a few.
© Riina Õun.
