Long before they founded SOBU, the design-forward furniture and home décor store on College Avenue in Oakland’s Rockridge district, Laleh (née Zahedi) and Alessandro Latini met as teenagers at Redwood High School in Corte Madera—a pairing that, in hindsight, feels like a design collaboration waiting to happen. They didn’t know it then, but the shared sensibility that would one day define SOBU—warm, curious and built to last—was already taking shape.
Years later, fate staged a cinematic reunion.
Both had gone on to study architecture, though eventually each went in different directions: Laleh into graphic design and catalog work for Pottery Barn and Design Within Reach; Alessandro into custom furniture in New York. When a construction project brought him briefly back to San Francisco, he spotted a familiar Vespa.
“Laleh and I both were Vespa riders in high school,” Alessandro says. “I saw a woman pull up, thought maybe that’s Lolly (Laleh’s nickname) and left a note in her helmet. Sure enough, she called me back, and we went out on our first date.”
Fast forward a few decades, and that spark has evolved into one of the East Bay’s most beloved design studios. From their Oakland shop and workspace, the Latinis have cultivated a loyal following drawn to their aesthetic, their ethos and the sense of calm that infuses every inch of their space.
The Look: Warm Modern
After returning permanently to the Bay Area, Alessandro worked as an architect but grew frustrated by slow timelines and limited creative freedom. A stint designing furniture for major retailers like Macy’s and Crate & Barrel taught him the industry ropes—especially sourcing. He traveled everywhere, going to hundreds of factories. But he didn’t always love the end product.
“A lot of the designs were my aesthetic, but the materials weren’t,” says Alessandro. “When it was first prototype and it was in raw wood, I was like, ‘This is gorgeous.’ And then they’d put some hideous finish on it that for some reason everybody wanted. But it was that materiality, just the wood or the raw metal, that was so exciting.”
That tension—between beauty and mass production—sparked SOBU’s founding philosophy: simple, elegant designs made from honest materials. “We both love simple, elegant stuff,” says Alessandro. “But things that also have a sense of humor, they’re not too serious. They’re relaxed and fun.”
The couple describes SOBU’s aesthetic as “warm modern”—a term that neatly captures their design language of clean lines, organic materials and timeless comfort. “To us, that means lots of beautiful wood and natural fabrics,” says Alessandro. “The designs are often rooted in Danish modern, but we like to mix in a little California wabi-sabi with our locally made furniture and crafts.”
SOBU itself reflects that sensibility: a palette of honeyed oak and handwoven textiles, punctuated by sculptural lighting, bold wall art and ceramics by local artisans. Everything feels curated but unpretentious—a home, not a showroom.
In more than a decade of business, SOBU has resisted the urge to over-offer. “A lot of retailers just seem to carry anyone and everyone,” Laleh says. “We’ve only carried our own line of furniture which we design and manufacture, a gorgeous Belgian line and now a new Danish collection. That’s it.”
That Danish partnership has them especially inspired: “We just started working with a new line with really exquisite fabrics and materials that our customers can choose from,” says Alessandro.
“It fits perfectly into our SOBU look and feel—Scandinavian simplicity, elegance in materiality and European craftsmanship,” adds Laleh.
Clicks and Craftsmanship
As tactile as their work is, the Latinis also know that in the modern marketplace, design and digital aren’t mutually exclusive. Their online store has become an essential extension of their brick-and-mortar shop—especially during the pandemic.
“People really do buy furniture sight unseen,” says Laleh. “With the natural ebbs and flows of in-person sales, our online shop has helped buoy us through some leaner times.”
During Covid, online sales grew by more than 50%. “It’s been a huge part of our business,” Alessandro says. “Customers find us through our website, and they can research products ahead of time. We also ship furniture all over the country now.”
Still, they liken running an online store to having a second business entirely—“and double, maybe triple the work,” Laleh jokes. “When we first started toying with the idea of a business, the idea was actually: Let’s open a store. I had this image that I would be in the shop and my office days would be, happily, behind me. Alessandro would be designing the furniture, and I’d be at the shop, hanging out with customers and making it look beautiful and special.”
Reality, of course, had other plans.
As SOBU grew, so did the list of responsibilities: managing a website, fulfilling orders, handling marketing, coordinating with vendors, and overseeing customer service and warehouse logistics. “The list just kept going,” Laleh says, laughing. “And there I was, back in front of my computer.”
Yet even amid spreadsheets and shipping schedules, the couple’s love for design and community has never wavered. Fortunately, a dedicated team keeps both legs of the business running smoothly. “We’re lucky to have an amazing shop team and customer service team that really power everything we do,” she says.
“For both Alessandro and I, being part of our local community here in the East Bay—connecting in real life with real humans face to face—is the most satisfying and enjoyable part of SOBU,” says Laleh. “Spending time in the store, we’re reminded constantly of how wonderful our customers are. When challenges arise, this is what always renews our faith in humanity.”
A Hub for Makers
Beyond the furniture, SOBU has evolved into something more than a retail space—it’s a creative community. The Latinis collaborate with local woodworkers, metal fabricators and artists, from one-off commissions to quarterly art openings featuring Bay Area artists. One recent show brought together more than 25 local lighting designers.
“Our employees are also makers and design lovers, and they help us coordinate these exhibits,” says Alessandro. “We always try to highlight locally made work, and we’re always looking to find new artists and artisans.”
SOBU’s influence now extends well beyond its storefront. Their custom dining chairs, for instance, were recently chosen for a restaurant opening in San Francisco’s Ferry Building.
The Next Chapter
Looking ahead, the couple plans to expand SOBU’s community role even further.
“We’re hoping to inject lots more creativity into the Oakland space and continue to grow our collaborations with artists and makers,” says Laleh. “There’s a dwindling number of real-life venues for people to experience creativity and human connection. We’re proud to be able to provide that.”
Alessandro agrees. “We see SOBU becoming more and more of a hub for local art and crafts,” he says. “We have so many incredibly talented people in the Bay (Area) who make beautiful things. That’s really what motivates us—beauty and art in our homes.”
For a couple who met as high school kids in Marin, built a life in San Francisco and then the East Bay, and raised their children among the creative energy of their community, SOBU feels like both culmination and continuation—a love story expressed in wood, fabric and human connection.
“We live here, we raised our kiddos here and we earnestly care,” says Laleh. For the Latinis, it’s about building something lasting—something beautiful—together.
SOBU, 5451 College Ave., Oakland, 510.817.4787; sobusobu.com.
