The Ozorian Prophet | Malekin's Okami, the Wolf

38 Views 12/20/2020 0 comments Posted By: NoviShari In: Journal - Our stories

The beggining: OKAMI - The Wolf and The Spirit Animal Collection.

“To look into the eyes of a wolf is to see your own soul ... I am wolf. It is my cry you hear in the night. It is my eyes that gaze at you from the shadows. It is my heart that beats in your soul. It is my strength that makes you whole. I am wolf. You are in me. I am in you. We are wolf. We are all the great spirit.”

/ Wolf Dreamer /

How was Malekin born?

We have always been inspired by each other’s visions with Bencze, and wanted to create something together, some art as an indispensable ingredient of your Lifestyle. We first started thinking about it as merchandise for Ozora… Then when the festival plans got paused, we decided to keep going with the dream, and made it happen on our own.

Why a kimono?

We wanted something other than the usual T-shirt, and kimono means ‘the thing to wear’. But the Malekin is not a traditional kimono, it’s more like an extra comfy layer that makes you feel nice.

How about the color palette?

Bencze, who’s been OZORA’s graphic designer for several years now, and who comes up with each year’s visual representation, has recently given a facelift to this cancelled year’s design. It’s to symbolize this year’s atmosphere, but also to mark the beginning of a new chapter. Neko is responsible for the art department of the festival, also owner-creator at dream accessory and headwear brand, The Flying Heads. The year wasn’t too active in entertainment and arts, but this only boosted their creative productivity. Welcome the Malekin! The dreamchild of Bencze and Neko, comfortable wear & functional accessories inspired by Nature, infused with Art. We asked Neko to tell us a bit more... by bencze We have a lighter, more feminine, darker, more masculine, and a monochrome version, all unisex wear of course. But I don’t know in advance what the shades will be, because Bencze doesn’t show anyone his work while in progress, only when it’s a final product basically, so it’s going to be a surprise for me too when I see what color choices he comes up with for the next mini-collection.

‘Malekin’?

Yeah, we tried to invent a word, a fantasy name, but it turns out, there’s almost no order of letters that isn’t already a word in some language:D It turned out that ‘malekin’ actually means ‘children with magical powers that have been brought up by fairies and gnomes’. This is our magic child, and so many friends helped bring it to life, everyone’s magic helped create it… so, the name fits perfectly.

We’ve seen the Ökami, wolf spirit animal malekins.

Are you planning others? Yes. A whole collection of spirit animal kimonos are in plan. We were trying to think of spirit animals that are perhaps less commonplace, but it's a list that can go on forever, there’s nothing fixed... Bencze chose the first one, the wolf, because it stands for freedom, fierceness, but also team game and the pack… Next one, guess what? It’s going to be the cat:) But by the time we get to Ozora, we’ll have a whole Noe’s Ark of spirit animal kimonos.

okami wolf artwork the beginning

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