N.Odmunkh: It’s better to be different

N.Odmunkh is a Mongolian designer who operates out of Stockholm, Sweden. For years, he has been designing clothes and outfits for international celebrities such as the Ginseng Stip artist Yung Lean, Sad Boys and Drain Gang. The young designer has been featured on Vogue Magazine in 2016.

In January, he was featured on Vogue again in the Runway section for his House of Od brand.

Aside from being a talented fashion designer, he releases music on YouTube under the name Inda Divonne. Currently, he has released songs “Water”, “Butterfly Language”, and Mongolian song “Duug min” on his YouTube and SoundCloud.

You left for Sweden after finishing school. How many years did you live there before returning to Mongolia?

I am a local of the 3rd and 4th micro districts of Mongolia. Before graduating school, at the age of 17, we moved to Sweden. I lived there for nine years and last October, I returned to Mongolia. I will live here now.

What was it like leaving for another country in your teen years? Was there a large cultural difference?

It was very interesting to me. Depending on the approach and communications of the people, there was a large difference. At the very least, Mongolians are people who speak incorrectly, but understand correctly. There, people communicate very briefly and straight to the point.

Overall, everything is well organized, but humans in general can easily adapt to new environments and learn new things.

What was your field of studies?

I graduated college with a major in clothing design and a minor in sales management. I continued studying graphic design afterwards.

Did you go to Sweden and fall in love with designing right away?

No. I loved designing since I was very little and I loved to draw. My mom used to make clothing in addition to her work and perhaps that influenced me a lot. I used to create designs and have my mom made them for me. I never forget how I created my first design in elementary school. In middle school, when my friends went shopping for new clothing, they used to get advice from me.

It has approximately been a year since the House of Od brand was launched. What was it like releasing your own brands to the public?

In the beginning of this year, I released the first collection of the brand. The clothes are being sold at www.houseofod.com and the Korean stores I have contracts with.

How many types of clothing did you include in your collection? The designs looked very interesting.

My designs do not fall into specific genres such as street wear or avant-garde styles. Instead, I wanted to neutralize and balance all these different types of styles into my collection in a sense that it can be worn daily by teenagers and contain strong symbolisms.

Furthermore, singers and other artists can wear them on stage as well. Of course, people can wear my designs regardless of age. Eight types of clothes are included in the first collection and each design has their own name. For instance, there is the Luminous Traveler hoodie with four different color choices and the zippers are embroiled with gems.

There are also two AeroDenim types of jeans. One is cargo-like and has a loose design and it has different attachments in which the one wearing them can switch up the design to their liking. The other one has more of a classical design. Other than the hoodies and jeans, there are shirts and t-shirts. All of our production process is carried out in Turkey.

Your collections were said to be very innovative by Vogue. You have been featured on the magazine twice. How did you first get in touch with them?

I used to work with the Swedish band Sad Boys, and in addition to designing clothes for them, I worked on other accessories such as rings, teeth accessories and others. In September 2016, during the New York Fashion Week, Sad Boys opened up a pop up store. During that time, I was first featured on Vogue.

Then, they featured me when I released my first collection.

Are more Asians interested in your designs than Europeans?

People order from all over the world, including Russia, Japan, Korea and China, but mostly they are from the United States.

Do you get many offers from international companies to work together?

I do get offers like that, but right now, I am working on developing my own brand. Besides, since I decided to settle in Mongolia, I kindly decline offers.

Swedish Rapper Yung Lean wore your designs in his music video for “Kyoto”. Have you worked with many celebrities?

When I was studying in college, I worked with Drain Gang and rapper Ecco2K. Since 2014, I have been working with Sad Boys and their member Yung Lean. In the world of music, Yung Lean is gaining quite the attention with his new flow of music and style.

What are people’s general responses to your music? How much criticism and compliments do you get?

I love music. It was 2013 that I attempted to create music myself. However, because I was working with companies on my designs, I could not completely focus on my music career and left it there. Now, I am working more towards my music and spreading it across platforms.

When listening to your music, it is hard to determine the exact genre. Which genre of music do you create?

I don't exactly know myself either. It is just a feeling that is excreting from me. I attempt to create something new and I don't want to be restricted by a specific music or a genre. The most important thing is the feeling and if I can capture the feelings that I am emitting, then I don’t think I have to be labeled by a genre.

Why is your stage name Inda Divonne?

It is an abbreviation of the words in “the divine”. I could have made my music under my name Od, but for me it was a new thing, so I decided to start it myself. They should be saying Inda Divonne produced new music as opposed to designer Od made a new song.

How do you get new ideas and inspiration?

It depends. Sometimes it comes when I am lying down or when I am in the shower. Designs for clothing stay in my mind, so later on when I remember them, I draw and produce them. Sometimes, it even comes in dreams.

However, when it comes to songs, I have to write it down right away.

You have worked with many Swedish artists and made clothing for them. Why don't you collaborate with them on music?

We are talking about it. I am really happy that they like my songs. A lot of artists and my friends abroad know that I make music but they said that they never thought I would produce a song and release it.

Your clothes pop and they are bold, however, your songs are soothing and peaceful. Why is that?

Even though my clothes are quite bold, I do try to implement the soothing factors of my songs into them as well and same with my songs. I try to stay far away from things that people are already doing and try to avoid trendy words in my songs. I don't like to invade dark subjects.

Which one is harder for you, creating music or creating designs?

There's not much difference, because I develop both from my mind, and I try my best to have both at its best possible quality. Well, maybe because I started drawing since I was little, creating designs isn't that hard for me.

Besides designing, I am also filming my music videos; hence I have been very busy lately. I am trying to manage both my work to the best of my ability.

What do you feel when you see people wearing the clothes you designed or listen to the songs you created?

The feeling I get is quite different. When I see people wearing my clothes, I think, “Wow, this person likes my choices”. When people are listening to my songs, I am happy. I don't want people to copy my art, but get inspired by them. This applies to my designs and my music.

Do you create all your music?

I create most of them myself. If I see something that I really like, I buy them and if not I create the clothes myself. Instead of buying many unnecessary things, I want to preserve my energy in a few quality products.

For this reason, in my collection I included clothing that are quite versatile, top quality, and can be worn in many ways.