KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 — It started, like many things on the internet, with cats. You might have seen "Bichi Mao" pop up on your social media feeds — cute and wholesome cat illustrations that often told bite-sized stories or shared positive messages.

Bichi Mao has grown far beyond adorable social media posts, now with a clothing line collaboration, merchandise as well as invites aplenty to art expos and exhibitions overseas.

You could say Bichi Mao is now a fairly successful local brand, successful enough to be hosting its own exhibition at the KLIF gallery at Menara GMBB from August 24 to September 15.

Who is Bichi Mao?

Surprise! Bichi Mao is not actually a person but a duo.

Olive Yong and co-founder Wee Lim told me in an email interview about how they got started: "It started as a simple passion project to share our love for cats, arts and storytelling. We first started by posting simple short comics on Instagram, still finding our footing. Much to our surprise, we’ve received a lot of positive responses & encouragement for our content, which gave us the confidence to continue growing the brand.”

From that Instagram page, the duo now have Niko Studio, a collective of seven talented people.

"We’ve developed a huge line of merchandise, participated in over hundreds of events & conventions, our content is available across various social media platforms, started our animation and toy line, published books that are available worldwide, and collaborated with amazing brands such as Samsung, Sunway, SODA, Kinokuniya, Berjaya Theme Park, Prodiet & many more,” they said.

Humble beginnings

From the start, the pair wanted to make sure their journey was sustainable though in the beginning it was mostly Yong doing the work with occasional support from Lim.

They decided that the easiest route to begin with would be by selling merchandise at local conventions.

"Our first sale was from an elderly lady buying it for her daughter at Comic Fiesta, it was very memorable for us. From then on, we went on to booth at many more conventions, even expanding to Singapore & Indonesia.”

As they were both fans of merchandise, they have worked hard to keep their own merchandise line fresh, varying their themes and designs.

"We feel that it’s important that people who made the trip to visit our booth will always have something new to look forward to!”

Clothing was however something they avoided due to the high overhead and space restraints.

So when local brand SODA came along as a partner for a clothing endeavour, it was an opportunity they couldn’t resist, with their first clothing partnership already on sale at SODA stores.

Unexpected response

The overwhelming response on social media to Bichi Mao’s content did take them by surprise.

Still, the brand is not complacent about their current success.

"At this point we’re working harder than ever before to try to improve our content and grow into something more than just our followers. Building a brand around Bichi Mao is the team’s main focus right now and growing our social media is just one of the many efforts that we’re pushing.”

"We are very thankful for all the support we’ve received. We aim to continue to share more kindness and joy to the world through our heartwarming stories.”

Global love

Surprisingly Bichi Mao’s largest fanbase isn’t local but in the USA, but they do have a healthy following in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia..

They did also find time to participate in an event -- the South Korea Illustration Fair in Seoul -- where they frankly told me it was expensive and they didn’t manage to break even, but the experience was "definitely invaluable.”

"The best part about the trip is definitely being able to see the sea of talented artists, designers and IPs,” they said.

On what sets them apart in the sea of online content – Bichi Mao said they were fortunate that their content gained a lot of traction during the pandemic.

"Amongst the sea of cute characters, we believe what set us apart is our storytelling,” they said.

Readers, they felt, were able to resonate with the messages shared through Bichi Mao’s story and art.

Excited for new endeavour

Bichi Mao received an offer from the Kuala Lumpur Illustration Fair to use their gallery for an exhibition, and as a solo exhibition was part of their 2024 goals it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

From initial plans to doing a simple gallery, the team decided to expand it into a full-blown interactive experience.

"Without spoiling too much, we’ve five wonderful stations living cohesively within the gallery space, each beautifully decorated and carefully set-up, featuring unique interactive activities and freebies from our wonderful sponsors,” they said.

The main theme of the exhibition is "Love Yourself” – "We offer our visitors an opportunity to explore within and practice self-care. Especially in today’s climate with depression and anxiety on the rise, we hope to do our part and make the world a kinder place.”

As to what advice they have for other creatives: "As cliche as it may sound, please don’t give up. Consistency is key. Like Olive’s favourite quote, ‘Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.’ "

The founders did also say that it was also about taking risks, getting out of their comfort zone while also putting in the legwork to learn how the industry works.

"Even though the journey is challenging and scary. Oftentimes we’ve no idea what we’re doing, but we are clear on where we are headed. We want to grow Bichi Mao™ to the best of our abilities, to one day be able to stand on par with established IPs like Hello Kitty, Snoopy, and Gudetama to name a few. We will continue to do our best for our dear fans and hope we can have Bichi Mao be a lovable IP worldwide,” they said.

Bichi Mao is currently planning their second clothing release with SODA and are also preparing for an upcoming toy collection.

For more details of the exhibition, check out Bichi Mao on Instagram or Facebook.