Behind the Design with Ulrike Lea Moormann

Person holds a large, colorful knitted blanket, covering most of their face. They wear a pink headband and have blonde hair.

BEHIND THE DESIGN

ULRIKE LEA MOORMANN

A multidisciplinary designer from Germany, we love how Lea plays with simple shapes and colors to create work that's so much greater than the sum of its parts. For our new Be My Neighbor collection, Sophie, a longtime fan of Lea's art and spirit, was inspired by her house designs, and thus began one of our favorite collaborations yet :)

@ULRIKELEAMOORMANN

How would you describe yourself?

Here we go: People call me Lea and Ulrike, sometimes Kaline, Ulme or Mama (and countless nicknames people have given me over the last 42 years). I’m a late person living in a country of on-time people, I’m a creative dervish, I’ve lived on an island where I moved when I was 14-ish without my family.

In my head numbers and letters have colorful representations (a phenomenon called graphem #synesthesia), I LOVE music concerts and festivals and I love love love to dance.

I don’t like eggs and green is a difficult color (but I’m slowly making friends with it). Sometimes I carve spoons, sometimes I sew, draw or dig holes into soil and I grow my own vegetables. I’ve got three rides and I’m dreaming of a long long bike packing trip with my family in the summer.

Besides doing other things I’ve studied German Literature, Politics and Psychology and am now accidentally working as a potter which is in my eyes the fucking best thing in the world!!!!

Small colorful ceramic house shapes arranged in a circular pattern inside a kiln.

Person in a red cap and dark apron standing in front of a wheeled rack with pottery shelves, holding a pottery tool, with a gray curtain backdrop.

Three words that describe your style:

Colourful, playful, whimsical.

Best habit:

Open-hearted optimist.

Worst habit:

Doing/wanting too many things at a time, sometimes impatient and hard to stop.

Baby sleeping peacefully on a patterned pillow, holding a green plush toy, with teddy bear in the background.

Ceramic plate with a grid pattern, featuring a small house-shaped ornament with a red roof and two black windows, on a wooden surface.

What's your favorite children's book?

I still thrift a LOT of children's books. Mostly from the 60s/70s/80s because I love how kids books were illustrated during that time. Some favorites from my own childhood are:The Bad-Tempered Ladybird by Eric Carle, Theodore and the Talking Mushroom by Leo Lionni,The Apple and the Moth by Iela & Enzo Mari,The Golden Apple by Celestino Piatti and all books fromMichael Ende,Astrid Lindgren and many many more…

Favorite things about Oeuf:

The whole universe, sense and use of colours, design language and all the small details that make them very different from other brands.

Ulrike's house designs are featured throughout our much-loved organic Pima cotton and organic French Terry styles, availablehere. They will also be featured throughout our baby alpaca and Merino wool styles, which are coming October 21st.

A toddler with red hair stands in a neutral studio setting, wearing a cream-colored onesie and pink shoes.

Embroidered Romper

A young girl with curly hair holds her collar, wearing a patterned dress and a blue crossbody bag, standing on a cobblestone street.

Ruffle Collar Dress

Baby wearing a patterned knit hat and a bib with house designs, sitting in a red seat, looking down.

Bib

Kids names and ages:

Mika, 13, and Felix, 10.

How would your kids describe you in 3 words?

I just asked them and this is what they said: "Warm, funny, creative" from Felix, "My wondeful Mama" from Mika.

A cardboard sheet featuring colorful paper cutouts of houses in various simple shapes and sizes, taped to a white wall.

Child with blonde hair sitting in a treehouse, holding a blue item, surrounded by tree branches.

What’s one thing you would tell your younger self?

You don’t have to be afraid. (When I was a kid I was scared of so many things.)

Where is your happy place?

It's not a physical place, I’m carrying it with me all the time and it crawls out in certain moments.

What's your favorite activity?

Crafting (whittling/carving, knitting, sewing, baking and sometimes building crazy costumes. I’m a DIY person from head to toe and always hungry to learn new things. Next thing I wanna do is weaving. I want to make my own carpet and also want to learn how to make baskets), listening to and collecting music, concerts & festivals, gardening, cycling and swimming.

Person standing on a table displaying various colorful ceramic plates and bowls, wearing a black top, blue jeans, and brown shoes.

Colorful ceramic houses of various shapes and sizes arranged on a wooden surface.

Favorite place to visit (with or without kids) and why:

The forest and the sea because they make me feel like home.

What’s your favorite thing about you?

That I’m always thinking positive and that I totally live in the here and now.

All images provided by Ulrike Lea Moormann.

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BEHIND THE DESIGN

ULRIKE LEA MOORMANN

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