Barbara Bukowski
Barbara Bukowski started designing and sewing teddy bears for her two sons over twenty years ago. She drew
inspiration from old German and English teddy bear models,
the ones designed by Margareta Steiff amongst others.
During an exhibition in Sweden Barbara displayed some of her first
bears and they instantly drew more attention than all the other exhibitors.
During an exhibition in Sweden Barbara displayed some of her first bears
and they instantly drew more attention than all the other exhibitors.
At the time there were no major manufacturers of traditional plush toys in Sweden.
The teddy bear tradition in Scandinavia was very limited, apart from a few single craftsmen who made
small scale collections or occasional single teddies. These were often very expensive and not intended
for the bigger market. In conjunction with the presentation of Barbara Bukowski’s bears, a teddy bear
tradition started to take place in Sweden.
This inspired the creation of new models with their own names and characters. Slowly but
surely these unique, vivid teddy bears were introduced to the Scandinavian and international
market with immense success.
Today, Bukowski Design one of the leading companies in Europe in design,
manufacture, marketing and sales of teddy bears and other soft and huggable animals.
Every Bukowski bear is distinguished by its individual character based on personalities from all parts of
the world. Many of our softies are, on top of that, dedicated to individuals or families that have inspired
Barbara to make complete collections in their honor.
The descriptions of the individuals and their creation is always found on the enclosed paper tag. Most of
the collections have specific colors and text that characterizes their properties and charisma. The paper
tag can be considered the birth certificate of the bear.