Iconic Stars | GJ1

A celebration of uniqueness and intersectionality, the Olomenka® label is a fusion of my African heritage, with the influence of Europe which has been my home for the past 20 years.

My name is Ebele Okoye. I am a Nigerian/German multidisciplinary artist, animation film maker, media and apparel designer.

Each piece, hand-made, embellished by me, with my original art, is a statement of passion, philosophy and lifestyle.

THE BEGINNING

I started making clothes at the early age of 12.  Before then, at age 7, I knew that I wanted to become an animation "story teller" but geographical discrepancies stood heavily in the way.

[A summary of my journey in Animation is HERE]

BACK TO APPARELS

My mom had an old hand-driven singer sewing machine which was my joyful duty to thread. As a source of living, we sold Bean-cakes (called Akara) at the local market. Our stall neighbours were a friend of my mum’s who made clothes commercially. Next to her was a cobbler whom not just loved me watching him work, but allowed me try my hands at making shoes too.
Spending time near these artisans became (next to my comics) one of the things I always looked forward to.

FIRST CONFIRMATION

By the time I was 9, I was already making clothes for my friends and neighbour’s children, most time destroying my mother’s clothes and anything that could suffice for these. At the age of 12, I made my first “commercial” apparels for uncle’s fiancée.

THE OTHER DREAM CONTINUES

I still nursed my dreams of becoming an animator but had to study Fine Arts, later specializing in Design/Illustration.
Still not able to leave Nigeria, I had a clothing studio for a while in my city Enugu, before moving on to Lagos where I focused mainly on painting and graphic design, while only occasionally making clothes for specialized customers, mostly Americans, Canadians and Germans.

A NEW LIFE: AN ABANDONEMENT?

Finally in the year 2000, I made it to Germany for a PG at the University of Cologne. From there I was able to visit the International Film School Cologne to study 2D Cartoon Animation. After my animation studies, getting fully into the animation industry became my main focus. I also was working towards jump-starting the industry in Nigeria, thus held the country’s first ever animation course in 2013.

A lot has happened and having seen the “glory” in Animation, my insatiable mind felt the need to go back to fashion and apparels which was where I actually started.

BACK TO PASSION

So here am I now in full satisfaction of having found a way of expressing my being, through eccentric and intersectional gear and wear which combine culture, sexuality, art and animation forms with apparels.