Remember when Oprah was just the host of little and local "a.m. Chicago? How about when Roger Ebert just used to be a movie reviewer at The Sun Times? Now, they own this town. Not even this town. They own the world. When it was discovered I was from Chicago, all the Maori woman in New Zealand wanted to discuss with me was how shameful it was that I am not regularly attending tapings of Oprah's show. Well, another couple of local names are starting to hit the big time, and it's only a matter of time until Fooey, these diva designers of kids' clothing, are taking over the world, and you'll be asking your friends, "Remember when...?" I mean, are you really going to find a t-shirt with these images at Marshall Field's? It used to be that Fooey was the only design diva on the block, but" There are so many hipster mom owned t-shirt companies starting up now," explains Kent Rayhill, the shaggy haired man with the killer smile, who is behind the scenes at Fooey. "We really want to stay ahead of the pack and keep things fresh." To own the world, like that ultimate diva, Oprah, they constantly reinvent themselves with new styles that fit in with Fooey's existing aesthetic, but, at the same time, trying to get away from just offering onesies and t-shirts. "We don't want to be just another cutesy, ironic kids' t-shirt company," says Rayhill with one of the same patented flirty smiles he uses when dealing with celebrities. That's right, Fooey designs are worn by everyone's kids, from Madonna to Jake Gyllenhall. Well, Gyllenhall's dog wears a special Fooey design just for canines. And, yes, Rayhill promises that Jake is just as handsome in person, if not more. Of their meetings, all Rayhill will say is, "He's really just such a regular guy." Currently, Fooey has been putting more thought into the line as a single entity rather than a bunch of single items put together. Explains Rayhill, "Now that Julia has a daughter it has obviously influenced our decision to add two new dresses to the spring/summer 07 line, a first for us." Wait, who's this Julia that Rayhill talks about, and why is she on my Rayhill turf? Turns out Julia is Julia Finlayson, co-founder of Fooey, a mother of three, and (whew!) married to someone else. This glam Annette Benning look alike provides real-life mom perspective that helps shape the product. The best part is, you get a much higher quality product than at disposable clothing palaces like Old Navy and The Gap. All of Fooey's shirts are from U.S. made American Apparel, which means 100% cotton, and the elaborate color dye process means that your t-shirt has traveled around the country more than you ever will. It's nice to patronize a company that so obviously cares about their product. Okay, your kids will be stylin' but what about all the moms and moms and uncles and uncles? When do we get our shirts? "This is something we have thrown around a lot since the beginning," says Rayhill. "Over the last few years we have had a few limited edition adult shirts available and we have a few available now exclusively on our website. We constantly get requests for more adult designs but up to this point we have put most of our energy into our kids line." So, the $1,000,000 question: Why do other kids' clothes suck so bad? "We try not to be influenced too much by other clothing companies," says the rebel. We certainly pay close attention to what is contemporary and hot in the kids' and adult market but we like to challenge ourselves to not follow trends as much as possible." Julia Finlayson explains that, "There are current trends that sell amazingly well, like shirts that say "princess" or "rock star" but it just does not interest us. With most of the graphics we are trying to capture those little magical feel good moments from when we were kids growing up in the 70's, and it seems to really speak to a lot of people. I think we have a unique point of view and have established our own look." Rayhill certainly has. Visit Fooey at www.fooeyusa.com