Women Who Launch: Mette Bordal Hansen and Gineline Kalleberg of KAOS

Describe your career arc which has resulted in the launch of KAOS?

GK: I don’t have a formal education beyond high school, but creativity and determination have always been my guiding stars. Through hard work, dedication, and a passion for storytelling, I built a rewarding career in marketing and copywriting. Before launching KAOS, I was a partner and copywriter at a digital creative agency in Oslo, where I honed my skills in communication and branding. Prior to that, I successfully established and scaled Habbo Hotel—a global social community for kids—in Norway.

Mette came from a strong background in graphic design, with education from Norway and Australia. She brought experience from media houses, digital agencies, and community-building projects, as well as her own entrepreneurial ventures. Together, our combined skillsets and shared entrepreneurial spirit gave us confidence and clarity—launching and building KAOS wasn't just possible, it was inevitable.

How did your personal experience as parents lead to the launch of KAOS?

It was absolutely essential. We literally became our own target audience. As our families grew, so did our collection. Every product we created was designed to seamlessly fit our lifestyles as new mums. Our real-life parenting experiences directly shaped every detail, blending perfectly with our design sensibilities and values.

Because we approached product development from both the practical perspective of mothers and the creative perspective of designers, we could ensure that each item thoughtfully balanced ease-of-use, functionality, and sustainability. We weren't just driven by commercial goals; we genuinely cared about creating products that were safe for our children and respectful of the planet they’ll inherit.

What sets KAOS apart?
KAOS stands out because we've merged thoughtful Norwegian design and sustainability with authentic parenting experiences. Our products reflect real life in a refreshingly honest way. No picture-perfect illusions, just transparency and genuine solutions created by parents who truly understand everyday life.

We’re not aiming to eliminate the chaos of parenthood; instead, we embrace it. Developed for kids, designed for parents, our products celebrate authenticity by being beautifully functional, helping families navigate and enjoy real-life moments, mess and all. Sustainability and longevity remain at our core, ensuring our products are as durable and adaptable as the families who rely on them every day.

Tell me more about the problems you found with previous baby brands and how you became demystified by this?

When we first entered the parenting world, we quickly realised the products available didn't match the reality of modern family life. Take the changing bags available in 2015, for example. They were bulky, overly complicated, and frankly, unattractive. They looked more like oversized toiletry bags, something our husbands definitely weren't eager to carry around. Managing a heavy messenger-style changing bag alongside a child, groceries, and the family dog quickly became an everyday nightmare. We needed a stylish, unisex backpack with a practical design and long-lasting quality. So, we created the KAOS Ransel.
Another eye-opening moment was our frustration with traditional highchairs like the iconic Stokke Tripp Trapp. While functional, they took up too much precious space in our compact kitchens and weren’t travel-friendly at all. The market was flooded with either bulky chairs or flimsy travel alternatives. None offered both compact storage and long-term versatility. We asked ourselves, “why doesn’t a flat-fold highchair exist that grows with your child and fits seamlessly into small living spaces?” Since it didn't exist, we designed the KLAPP highchair ourselves.

How has KAOS evolved since your 2015 launch? 

KAOS has truly evolved step by step, from a passion project we worked on alongside our regular jobs, into our full-time commitment. In the beginning, KAOS was something we nurtured late nights after our kids were asleep, balancing it with our careers in marketing. By 2016, it became clear that KAOS wasn't just a side hustle. It had real potential, so we took the leap and left our marketing jobs to give it our full attention.

Since then, we've handled every aspect of building the company ourselves, from product design and production management to logistics, import/export, web development, marketing, and even accounting. It's been a hands-on, learn-as-you-go journey, with plenty of steep learning curves along the way, especially regarding fundraising and scaling our team.

Over the past five years, we've welcomed carefully selected investors who share our vision and values. Our small kitchen-table idea has grown into an award-winning global brand, supported by an incredible team of eight passionate people.

The KAOS KLAPP is your hero product, what do you attribute to its success?
The success of KAOS KLAPP lies in solving everyday problems with elegant simplicity and clever innovation. It’s a highchair thoughtfully designed to fit effortlessly into modern homes and lifestyles, introducing an entirely new way of sitting. Unlike traditional chairs that must constantly be adjusted to the child, KLAPP naturally encourages children to adapt their sitting position as they grow. That simple shift in thinking is, honestly, brilliant.

KLAPP folds completely flat, making it perfect for compact living and easy storage or travel. Its Scandinavian-inspired design is both beautiful and functional, striking a balance parents genuinely appreciate. Add to that its sustainability, durability, and ability to grow with your child from infancy throughout childhood,  and you have a product that truly resonates with modern families.

How does sustainability influence your designs?

Sustainability shapes every decision we make, even before the design process begins. The very first question we ask ourselves is, “does the world actually need this product?” The last thing we want is another unnecessary item adding clutter to people’s lives.

Once we’ve established a genuine need, we dive into how we can create the product as sustainably as possible: from carefully selecting materials and using as few resources as needed, to choosing the most environmentally responsible production methods. Distribution matters too. We prioritise short distances from production to consumer to minimise our footprint.
Circularity is always top of mind for us, and our REKLAPP initiative is proof that it’s built into our DNA. Next on our sustainability roadmap is implementing a system for returning and reselling pre-loved KAOS products, because a truly great product should have more than one life.

Tell me more about your modern, minimalist aesthetic…

Our modern, minimalist aesthetic is deeply rooted in our Norwegian heritage: simple, clean, and purposeful. We strip back the unnecessary, focusing purely on function and form to create products that effortlessly complement modern lifestyles. Rather than clutter your home, KAOS products blend beautifully with your existing decor, subtly enhancing your space rather than dominating it.
Minimalism isn't just an aesthetic choice, it aligns perfectly with our sustainability values. By keeping our designs clean and timeless, our products remain relevant and loved for years, not just seasons. We want KAOS pieces to bring calm to the everyday chaos, reminding parents that functional simplicity can also be beautiful.

What has been your proudest achievement to date?

Without a doubt—ReKlapp. We set out to create a truly circular highchair, and we actually did it. That might sound straightforward, but the reality was anything but. The level of complexity, the trial and error. It was a massive undertaking! Honestly, I’m glad we didn’t fully grasp how challenging it would be before diving in, because we might have hesitated. But we believed in the mission, and we pushed through. And now, we have a product that truly walks the talk on sustainability.
Aside from that, what really fills us with pride is how happy our customers are. When people recommend KAOS to their friends purely because they love the products. Not because of advertising or influencers, that’s the ultimate compliment. Especially coming from a background in marketing — we know how rare and powerful that kind of trust is.

What’s the biggest challenge you have overcome?

Honestly, the past ten years have been packed with challenges, where do we even start? Navigating life as a startup during a global pandemic was definitely one of them. And of course, developing ReKlapp — a fully circular highchair — was another monster of a milestone.
That said, perhaps the biggest ongoing challenge has been building a brand and a company entirely from scratch while simultaneously raising young families. We were designing highchairs during nap times, answering emails with babies on our laps, and balancing logistics with dinner prep. In hindsight, we couldn’t have picked a more fitting name than KAOS, it perfectly sums up our lives. Somehow, we wouldn't have it any other way.

What does a typical day look like to you?

We’re both early risers, usually up around 5-5:30 AM. That first coffee? Sacred. We tackle emails and check our calendar, make lunch boxes and coax kids out of bed. We try to squeeze in a gym session at 6:30am before the workday kicks off around 8:00am.
Now that our kids are older afternoons are a full-on relay of after-school activities. From 4- 6 PM, we moonlight as taxi drivers. Then it’s dinner, followed by the “third shift”: laundry, homework help, and a few more emails or calls before collapsing into bed.
We’ve learned to let go of perfection, because when the cup is full, it’s full. And honestly, that’s the spirit of KAOS.

What is it about your job that continues to inspire you?

What keeps us inspired is knowing we’re creating something that genuinely improves everyday life for families, ours included. We’re not just building products; we’re building solutions that are thoughtful, beautiful, and built to last. Seeing a KAOS chair folded neatly in a tiny apartment or a Ransel backpack on a dad’s shoulders at the airport never gets old.

What does it take to be a female entrepreneur?

You definitively need a sense of humour, a strong stomach, and a whole lot of grit. Being a female entrepreneur often means juggling more roles than you can count; founder, parent, partner and planner. It takes resilience to navigate a space that still isn’t always built for women, especially those balancing business with family life.
But it also takes belief. In your ideas, your instincts, and your ability to figure things out as you go. You don’t need to have all the answers from day one. You just need the drive to keep going, the courage to ask questions, and the confidence to make space for yourself. Even if that space doesn’t exist yet. Community is also integral. Having other women around you who cheer you on, share their own chaos, and remind you you’re not alone? That’s been everything to us.

What’s next for KAOS and how would you like to see the business evolve?

We’re entering a super exciting phase. Next up is deepening our commitment to circularity, with initiatives like pre-loved KAOS and a return system that gives our products multiple lives. We want to make sustainability even more accessible and practical for families, without adding complexity.
We’re also expanding our product range thoughtfully, still sticking to our “less, but better” philosophy. Every new item will solve a real need, stay true to our aesthetic, and be designed with longevity in mind.
As for the business, we want KAOS to continue growing globally while keeping our values intact. We’re building more than a brand. We’re building a movement that supports modern families, embraces imperfection, and makes everyday chaos feel a little more beautiful.

https://www.itskaos.com/