STUCK ON YOON
WITH A SLEW OF FAMOUS SUPERFANS, TOKYOBASED AMBUSH IS A BRAND AT THE TOP OF ITS GAME. GET ACQUAINTED WITH CO-FOUNDER YOON AHN, ONE OF FASHION’S RISING STARS
Rising style star Yoon Ahn on her brand Ambush and its many celebrity fans.
“I DIDN’T SAY I DISLIKED THE PHRASE ‘STREETWEAR’,” clarifies Yoon Ahn. “I said it has a different meaning now – it’s overused and thrown around to define anything casual.” Ahn is uniquely qualified to wax lyrical on the topic. Part of a clique of fashion creatives that includes designers Virgil Abloh and Kanye West, she’s watched the explosion of streetwear firsthand, contributing with her highly-coveted fashion brand Ambush, which Ahn runs out of Tokyo with her husband, Young-kee Yu (aka rapper Verbal).
The label launched in 2008, selling punk-inspired jewellery that quickly attracted a cult following, with Jay-z, Rihanna and Lady Gaga among them. Safetypin bracelets, metallic crushed soda cans and alloy metal “peg” earrings are hallmarks of the brand. “I got into jewellery by looking at punk and club culture kids,” says Ahn. “They decorate themselves to express who they are in a way that isn’t about class or being pretentious.”
In 2015, Ahn and Yu decided to expand Ambush’s offering to include ready-to-wear and soon became one of Japan’s biggest fashion brands – a LVMH Prize nomination followed just two years later. The fashion offering was very much an extension of the jewellery offering – think graphic printed shirts, oversized pastel turtlenecks and bold orange fleeces. “The core of the brand is jewellery, but there are so many things we can branch out to. We want to grow into a multifaceted collective.”
Born in Korea, raised in the US and now based in Tokyo, Ahn says her cross-cultural upbringing has infused Ambush with a global appeal – so it was perhaps no surprise when Paris came knocking last year in the form of an appointment as the director of jewellery at Dior Homme. “Kim [Jones – Dior Homme’s creative director] and I have always talked about working together on something,” she says. “I’d never worked at a big house before, so every collection has been a huge learning experience.” Alongside the tailored suits and monogrammed sneakers was Ahn’s jewellery – chunky chain chokers and bracelets with an interlocking “CD” for Christian Dior on them. Jones so appreciated Ahn’s input that he got her to join him for his bow at the runway show in Paris last June (above, centre).
So, now with a loyal celebrity following and rapidly growing global business ticked off, what else is still on Ahn’s to-do list? Dressing superheroes, obviously. “I would love to work on movie costumes,” she says. “Something with superheroes or sci-fi would be amazing.” Ambush x Captain Marvel? We wouldn’t put it past her.
“The PHRASE STREETWEAR is OVERUSED. It's often THROWN AROUND to DEFINE anything CASUAL”