Hello there,  we are Ági and Vanessza, the founders and designers of the Budapest based knitwear brand, OAT AVA. Our story started at the university where we both studied textile design. We worked on several projects together and we enjoyed how we completed each other during the working process. Our friendship, love for knitwear, and passion for a more sustainable life brought OAT AVA to life in 2018, after almost a year spent working on it
The idea of OAT AVA lays on our own personal inspiration taken from our daily lives. As mums, who work from home, we spend most of our time in this space, and the environment influences our mood, our productivity. It needs to be simple, practical, cozy and aesthetically pleasing - just like our clothes.
We felt a growing need to create clothes that reflect on the time spent home, developed to be suited for all the aspects and activities that are included in homelife. We found it especially important that these garments express comfort, serenity, calmness and safety just as much as the interior. As sustainability was not a question for us, we started looking for the best quality, organic cotton supplier and local knit-mills that could make our clothes in the best quality. We feel lucky that we found the right people to work with and can count on them from the beginning, as OAT AVA is not only an organic knitwear brand, it is also all the people behind it that make the clothes.

Colorful shades, unique designs

Inspirations find us in many different ways: when we travel and experience new tastes, places, buildings, meet new people. Sometimes it comes through music, paintings or someone’s personal character who we see on the street.
A lot of times inspiration comes from a mood that hits hard. 
Nature that surrounds us is probably the biggest inspiration of all.
When we design something new it sometimes starts with a very practical idea. For example we find missing clothing pieces in our daily life Fun fact: one day, a few months before OAT AVA has started, Vani came out from the shower and felt a strong need for a jumper that’s always perfect to wear. Comfortable and special. That would be perfect to take on when you come out from the bathtub and also when you go for a walk, having lunch with your friends, or any other occasions. With this need in our heads we created OAT AVA and first the MOA jumper.
Our design process always starts with an idea, an inspiration which we discuss and start sketching, brainstorming from that idea until we come up with a design we are both happy with. This process usually takes months until we finalise the design, pattern, choose the colors and perfect every single detail so the garment will look exactly how we imagined and it feels comfortable to wear. Once we have the design ready we make samples, try them on, check if there’s anything we need to change before we send it to production. The whole design process and launching new collections can be long and exhausting but it is also our favorite part in running our own business! The best part is when we get to see you wearing our pieces and receiving all that positive feedback. It makes every invested minute worth it.
We also like to incorporate boheme, playful elements in our designs and enjoy collaborating with artists on limited, capsule collections. Our knitwear is rooted in comfortable designs, and at the same time, they have cheerful colours and unique designs that add that little extra to your everyday wardrobe.