A limited-edition collection inspired by the Pacific Northwest, featuring Shogo Ota's colorful migratory animals and the landscapes they call home—an exploration of travel, connection, and seeing the world through a more intentional lens.

MiiR × Shogo Ota Artist Series

A limited-edition collection inspired by travel, the Pacific Northwest, and the places that shape us.

Every design tells a story for Shogo Ota. When we invited Shogo to create artwork for MiiR as part of the launch of our new apparel and bags collection, we gave him a simple creative brief centered around travel: how we move through the world shapes how we experience it.

Check out the full Shogo Ota Artist Series Collection

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Inspired by the idea of meaningful travel, Shogo looked close to home.

A Japanese artist inspired by the world around him, Shogo lives on Camano Island in the Pacific Northwest, where the ocean, mountains, forests, and wildlife are a constant source of inspiration. Rather than looking far beyond his surroundings for inspiration, he began by paying attention to what was already there.

"I'm inspired by where I live and where I come from."

Born and raised among the rivers and forests of Japan, Shogo has always had a close relationship with the natural world. Today, living between the mountains and ocean of the Pacific Northwest, that connection continues to shape his work.

For this collection, he brought that perspective to life through a cast of colorful migratory animals—all found here in the Pacific Northwest. Canada geese, monarch butterflies, grey whales, and salmon move through the skies and waters around his home, each traveling in its own way and each connected to the landscapes they move through. Above them, the mountains are the Olympic Mountain Range, grounding the artwork in a place that feels distinctly home.

The result is a collection that feels less like a map of where to go and more like an invitation to pay attention to where you are.

Behind the Artwork

For Shogo, the design process began with observation.

He spent time looking at the animals and landscapes around him, drawing inspiration from the quiet, meditative act of migration—the way animals move across vast distances while remaining deeply connected to the places they pass through.

From there, he began sketching.

Animals, mountains, movement, and color came together in Shogo's signature rhythm. His illustrations feel alive, with each element carrying a sense of motion while still remaining connected to the landscape around it.

"Each design has an invisible connection between the art and the viewer. I am honored to share my life experience with you."

That idea of connection is at the heart of the collection. The animals may be traveling, but they are never simply passing through. Their journeys are shaped by the places they inhabit, just as our own experiences are shaped by the places we choose to explore.

A Shared Connection to Place

The collaboration felt like a natural fit for MiiR.

Shogo's work has always celebrated the natural world, while MiiR was founded on the belief that the products we make can help people experience the world more meaningfully—and that we have a responsibility to protect the places that make those experiences possible.

There was also something more personal connecting the two: a shared appreciation for the Pacific Northwest.

MiiR has long admired Shogo's colorful murals, illustrations, and award-winning Seattle World Cup poster. His ability to transform the landscapes and stories around him into something vibrant and unexpected made him a natural creative partner for this collection.

When we approached Shogo, we wanted to give him room to interpret the idea of travel in his own way. Rather than prescribing exactly what the artwork should look like, we shared the larger story we were trying to tell and invited him to bring his own perspective to it.

That freedom led him back to the place he knows best.

The Pacific Northwest.

The animals he sees outside his window. The mountains on the horizon. The waterways that connect one place to another. And the idea that traveling with intention can change not only how we see a place, but how we connect to it.

The Journey Is Part of the Story

Each animal in the collection represents a different kind of traveler, moving through the landscape in its own way. Together, they tell a story about slowing down, paying attention, and finding meaningful connections to the places we pass through.

Because the journey is just as important as the destination.

That belief sits at the heart of MiiR's community: curious people who want to see more, experience more, and leave the places they visit better than they found them.

With Shogo's artwork, we wanted to capture that feeling—not just the excitement of going somewhere new, but the deeper experience of being present when you get there.

A reminder that sometimes the best way to experience the world is simply to slow down and look around. Shop the limited edition MiiR x Shogo Ota before they migrate away.