Hoot Cout2ure Rachel Konte’s OwlNWood BY Lou Fancher
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In 2021, Konte’s “dabbling” led not only to the Oakland resident becoming the founder/owner of the design and consulting studio OwlNWood and co-founder/operator of Oakollective— the shop is now inactive—but also to becoming chief of brand for Red Bay, the roaster and cafe her husband, Keba Konte, established in 2014. After years spent in corporate settings, she says life as an entrepreneur is liberating. “I found curating my own vision was just so satisfying,” Konte says. “I was schooled in Levi culture, but I had
EAST BAY MAGAZINE | EASTBAYMAG.COM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
become a good designer at designing primarily for that brand. It took maybe three years to find my vision, to see who I am.” Konte never looked back— except with gratitude for expertise sharpened and vital entrepreneurial skills gained. “As a designer, the challenge to execute whatever design is desired by a brand or a client, while also having the flavor of who I am remain in the design, was satisfying. It was always exciting, never the same thing; there’s a need to constantly exercise your design muscles. Levi’s challenged
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PHOTOS BY ED NTIRI
n the midst of the 2007 recession, Danish-born designer Rachel Konte stepped away from a 15-plus-year career in corporate fashion and her thencurrent high-level position as design director at Levi Strauss & Co. in San Francisco to consider future options. “My whole career had been exciting and exhausting, so finding myself thinking of what to do next and founding OwlNWood and then Oakollective, a popup fashion shop I started with a friend, was me dabbling,” Konte says.
