Design, Detours & the Road to SOBU

Named after our kids, Sofia and Bruno, SOBU began back in 2011 with a simple idea for a kids’ bed. That idea blossomed into a pop-up shop in Old Oakland (2013), then a shared space in Rockridge (2014), and finally, in 2016, making the Rockridge space our very own. Our mission? To design modern, well-crafted furniture made from natural materials—pieces built to last, not just fleeting trends from corporate giants.

Alessandro and I go way back—we met in high school, reconnected after college, and eventually built a life together filled with family, work, and a shared dream. Alessandro’s background in architecture and furniture design mixed perfectly with my experience in graphic design and photography to spark the creation of SOBU.

And to think really it kick started with a little note. While visiting from New York, Alessandro spotted me on my Vespa and left a message in my helmet, asking me out for coffee. That coffee turned into a shared journey—moving around San Francisco, a wild (and slightly ill-fated) move to France, a 1-year break-up, and then back together, arrival of our two amazing kids and the birth of the third: SOBU.

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SOBU has always been something a little different. In a world of big-box furniture and corporate giants, we’re proud to be a small, independent, family-run business—one that’s deeply rooted in our Bay Area community.

We know our customers. We see you in the neighborhood, stop to catch up, ask about your families, watch your kids grow. Those moments—real, human, everyday connections—are the part of this work that matter most to us. They’re what make this more than just a business. Take a moment and imagine if more of our daily interactions happened this way. Not long ago, they did.

While we do sell online and ship across the country, our roots are firmly here in our community. Being a small, family-run business brings a level of care, connection, and intimacy that you simply can’t replicate at scale—and we think our customers feel that.

SOBU is our small way of showing that it’s possible. It takes heart, a lot of hard work, and a willingness to do things differently—but we believe small businesses can stand strong, build something meaningful, and bring a little more connection back into everyday life.

Thanks for visiting as always!

— Laleh

Street view of the old SOBU furniture store with a bicycle parked outside the entrance.

From left to right: The SOBU family in 2010, SOBU's first storefront in Old Oakland 2013, Sofia and Bruno in the Old Oakland space before we fixed it up, the SOBU family in 2023.

SOBU Founders

Alessandro Latini (b. Rome, Italy, 1971) spent his early childhood in places like Sardinia and Rio de Janeiro—pretty dreamy backdrops for a kid to start noticing good design and craftsmanship. He later moved to California to study architecture at UC Berkeley, but it was the university’s woodworking studio that truly captured his attention and sparked a lifelong love of furniture making.

After graduating, Alessandro moved to New York and began building custom pieces from a tiny basement apartment in the East Village. A chance reconnection with his high school friend Laleh brought him back to San Francisco, where he worked at two respected architecture firms before returning fully to furniture design. His work has been featured by brands such as Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel, but what continues to drive him most is working with sustainable materials and collaborating with talented craftspeople around the world.

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Laleh Latini (b. Tehran, Iran, 1971) moved to San Francisco with her family at age eight. After high school she began studying interior architecture at UC Davis before shifting her focus to film and photography. A few years after college, she set off on a backpacking trip around the world with a friend—visiting 13 countries across four continents and capturing thousands of images on film along the way.

Back in San Francisco, Laleh briefly explored commercial photography before transitioning into freelance graphic design, working with brands such as Pottery Barn and Design Within Reach. Photography remains an important part of her creative life—you’ll see many of her images throughout the SOBU website, and occasionally on display at the Oakland showroom.