What would a Blaque Falcon 2019 look like? What did we achieve in 2018 that we could’ve improved on? These are questions that I continued to ponder on during the winter holidays. I’d love to say that it will always onwards and upwards, but I’m sure you’ve heard that elsewhere. Blaque Falcon itself as a brand has continued to enthral me in so many ways. Over the years since its conception, as I’ve grown as a creative Blaque Falcon itself has grown, so naturally the brand itself can only ever go in one direction.
I have found many positive traits in my own personal development as the brand has grown, but have found many other aspects that must improve for it to grow even stronger than ever. This must be the challenge that all entrepreneurs, as well as aspiring businessmen and women go through on a day-to-day basis. Even those who understand their potential, but are unsure on which direction they must place their creative energies. Their talent continues to haunt them, while the societal pressures of conformity bind them to a regressive form of spiritual lockdown.
If you are one of these people, believe me you are not alone. Blaque Falcon has always been a healthy outlet for me to express the expansive imagination going on in my mind – and perhaps it can do the same for you too. I made the free choice to change the spelling of Black to ‘Blaque’ to simply add some personality to the brand, while also immediately forcing the seeker to ask themselves the following question/s (among others): What does the bird image represent? Why is it spelt like that? What’s the story behind the symbol? When I heard onlookers ask those exact questions during my stint on becoming a market trader, I knew that that Blaque Falcon is almost certain for success.
The greatest challenge that all of us face in our times is, the current trend of instant information. Information and data is sent through instantaneously at an alarming rate and almost everyone that owns a smartphone has an opinion on the latest gossip or fashion trend that embarks the web. How do we relinquish ourselves from the constant pull and urge to bring out our phones from the ever-growing distraction of social media? A pertinent question for us as a growing brand, would be how we stand out as a brand amongst all of the noise?
The answer is simple but difficult. We continue to keep the persona of the Falcon, by persistently focusing on our prey, which in this case would be our goals and objectives. We already know what the wings represent, but we must continue to remind ourselves of how essential it is to continue to strive for the natural regal boldness of the Falcon. This is an attitude and identity that you can also adopt, for removing the chains of ignorance and fear will always be an uncomfortable but liberating experience – as I have known personally in my own development.
What would a Blaque Falcon 2019 look like? As much as I’d like to get a crystal ball out on the finer details of the year, what I can guarantee is what I have always stated on previous posts – we will continue as always to push ourselves for an aggressive expansion of our brand.
2017 was the year that pretty much set the pace and tone for Blaque Falcon Clothing and Publishing. The very idea of kicking off a clothing line came to fruition following multiple brainstorms, questions, set-backs and a whole barrage of emails sent to different suppliers and merchandisers. The result was our first collection of clothing and the brand’s publication of its debut novel, Drax. The experience itself was somewhat of an education for myself. To test the market’s waters, last summer I decided to rent my own pop-up shop, and pursue a very short career as a market trader. I traded in Chingford, Brick Lane, Battersea, Tottenham, Enfield and Battersea. I took every opportunity available to receive direct feedback and involvement in getting the brand off the ground.
With the first-hand experience and lessons learned during this in 2017, I knew that the intention for Season Two was going to be somewhat of a transitional one. I very much wanted to keep the brand’s ethos of regal sovereignty yet take the brand to a period of ascension; and to achieve this was to take Blaque Falcon to a new direction.
Usually when companies, brands, people of influence etc. announce that they wish to take themselves in a new direction, this usually results in the audience giving a somewhat nervous sense of anticipation of what’s to come next. I’d like to think the host of YouTube videos and other exclusive behind the scenes content on social media have dispelled any sense of doubt of what’s to come for Season Two.
Season One was, to say the least a warm-up to what we have in store for Season Two. I wanted to kick-start the brand by starting modestly – providing a simplistic, yet a quality controllable collection for both men and women. This involved a minimal line of T-Shirts, long-sleeve t-shirts, jogging bottoms and hoodies for both genders, as well as a unisex Sweatshirt. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with the majority of customers and supporters complimenting on the softness and comfort of the products – not to mention the positive reader reviews of my novel Drax. While this was all very humbling and of course exciting, this gave me a detailed enough baseline on where to take Season Two, namely keep doing what you’re doing but better.
The Season One photoshoots all provided a very urban theme to jump-start, which clearly worked, but to introduce a fresh new outlook, I wanted to bring in a more preppy-summertime theme in. We have a collection of Unisex Casual shirts, and knitted sweatshirts, a range of Mens Chino Trousers and Shorts, Polo -shirts for both men and women as well as some crop-top shirts for women - not to mention a range of unisex Bomber Jackets.
I have truly been blessed to work with several talented individuals to make Season Two come to fruition. It’s collaborations like these that personally confirmed to me that my entrepreneurial endeavour was very much the correct path to take. As mentioned on previous posts, the Falcon symbolises the visionary power necessary to achieve one’s goal, thus achieving spiritual sovereignty. We as Falconites and Falconettes elevate ourselves to see beyond the horizon, and when necessary, we swoop in for our prey with no permission while also eliminating all distractions en route.
Ikenna Nwimo
1st June 2017. Drax is finally published! Yes, my first-ever novel is finally out and self-published on the biggest library in the e-commerce platform, Amazon. Honestly speaking, to celebrate I haven’t gone out and popped the Champagne in the club. That’s not how I really like to get-down, as I know that the resources spent on “ballin’ in the club” could just as well be spent on something more constructive. I’ll speak a little bit on the book below, but before you head down there, I’d like to ensure you that this is only the beginning. Most outlets and articles may tell you that you need to partake in a creative writing course and obtain this qualification, go for this and go for that, but I did neither. I felt I had a story in me and I went out and did it. No questions asked. Shoot first, ask questions later. I simply just jumped over to the unknown. What I have created so far is pretty much the epitome of what Blaque Falcon is really all about.
I believe that there is a new paradigm that is shifting the course of society as we speak. There was a time when writers and creatives needed to have a so called ‘middle-man’ to assist in marketing and distribution of products and services, but with the rapid rise of the internet, the world has become much more smaller and easier to network with one another. I also believe that nearly everything out in the material world has to do with the right time/season. With the current uncertainty in the economy and the gung-ho, child-like behaviour from our political leaders, the premise of Drax was to produce a story that epitomises the continual stasis of class within the fragile layers in western society.
The main protagonist that is introduced to the reader as an everyday 23-year-old male graduate called Luke, who has supposedly everything that any millennial could wish for. He’s clearly uninspired by the mundane activities of a 9-5 job. However, as he gets embroiled with the wrong characters, he’s automatically forced to change his perspective on life, morals and his principals. He begins to see past the illusory systems of society as he embarks on his journey to payback his gambling debt, while reassessing his relationships. The story itself stems from my own personal experiences growing up (minus the crime element of course!), mixed in with the wild imagination I had while constructing the relationships between each of the characters on Luke’s journey. I find that the most engaging stories are the ones where the audience grows with the protagonist. Most of it is written in the first person, so you’ll essentially find yourself in the mind of a twenty something year-old male growing through his journey.
It is through his journey, that I believe will resonate with readers of all ages and backgrounds. Most of us eventually realize that there are more important issues to worry about in life other than the immediate pleasures that we see (social media, material items etc.). It’s through this understanding (whether we choose to or not) that we know that the structures of the world around us are fragile.
I hope you enjoy it, you can get your own copy of Drax here.
