Meet a Maker: Edition 28

Meet Riina Õun

1. What is your craft and how did you get into it?

My name is Riina Õun. I’m from Estonia and in Estonian language my last name means an apple! I specialise in hand-crafted luxury leather gloves. I got introduced to the skill during my BA studies at the Leather Accessories department at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Initially I was a footwear designer and maker but glove-making appeared very organically alongside, until eventually taking over.

I established my brand, Riina O, twelve years ago in London and about seven years ago the number of my vegan clients started increasing. They did not want to work with leather, for obvious reasons. This brought up the question, what is “vegan leather” made of – in most cases, especially when suitable for making gloves, it is plastic-based material. This inspired me to embark on the MA Material Futures course at Central Saint Martins in London, where during my studies I expanded my work into biodesign and materials research, working intensively with kombucha SCOBY bacterial cellulose. Alongside biodesign and materials development I still continue to work with leather as well. It’s a wonderful material, really durable and also a side product of the food industry.

2. What is one interesting fact about you?

I always approach both my work and life with a sense of curiosity and openness. Whether it’s exploring new places for inspiration or experimenting with materials like SCOBY-compo (the leather-like material recipe I developed from kombucha bacterial cellulose), I’m always looking for ways to learn and create something meaningful from my experiences. Ignited by novelty, I am endlessly curious, exploring new techniques and collaboration possibilities.

3. How long have you been making?

I started making leather gloves about 20 years ago, but I have been a maker at heart since early childhood, embroidering with my mum and being a scissor master at only 2 years old, according to what I was told, as I was too young to remember.

4. Who are your favourite makers?

At this moment glove-making is a craft on the verge of extinction. There are not many glovers left in the world, which is why I’ve made it my mission to spread the knowledge by teaching workshops worldwide, so that there would be many inspiring makers in my craft field in the future for many years to come!

I really admire the craft of Caroline Groves, my former mentor whom I was lucky to work with during my footwear making days. Her meticulous attention to detail and gorgeous designs take my breath away!

5. What is the most challenging skill/technique you learned in your craft?

I try to explore new techniques in each Riina O gloves collection, from laser cutting to leather marbling, bead embroidery, appliqué, etc. It has been an exciting journey!

The most challenging pair of gloves I’ve ever made was a long metallic bronze pair of fingerless gloves with 100 decorative fingers – a conceptual piece inspired by the Goddesses of India. It taught me patience in ways no other project had before.

6. What is your favourite part of your craft?

I find the process of hand-sewing gloves rather meditative. When I just started out with this craft, I would sit down to make gloves and transcend into a kind of an active meditation, where the world around me disappeared. Five hours later I would ‘wake up’ with a finished glove in my hands, without noticing the passed time. Nowadays I tend to watch some series on the background as I make gloves.

7. What project are you most proud of and why?

I am most proud of my interdisciplinary collaborations, such as work with hand prosthetics for the ‘Hands of X’ or with the ‘Alternative Limb Project’ and ‘The Third Thumb Project’; and leather robotic unicorn project with Helen Leigh. I am also very proud of my sustainable biomaterial developments. My greatest honour was being selected as one of the finalist for England Maker of the Year 2024.

8. If someone who knows nothing about you and your practice could know one thing, what would it be?

If someone who knows nothing about my craft could know one thing, it would be that I’m combining traditional craftsmanship with modern technology and future-facing materials innovation.

I have expanded my craft from creating luxury hand-crafted leather gloves to pioneering leather-like SCOBY-compo and other biomaterials, not only just preserving heritage techniques but evolving them to address sustainability challenges, balancing honoring tradition while driving innovation.

Combining heritage techniques with sustainable innovation shows that tradition and the future can coexist beautifully.

Learn more about Riina