Beats / AMBUSH
Yoon glows with Beats in latest collaboration
The Beats / AMBUSH Powerbeats are available for purchase November 18th.
When the sun sets on Tokyo's iconic commercial ward Shibuya, the cityscape glows with neon lights. Bustling crowds fill the streets, luminescent magic lighting their path. For AMBUSH cofounder Yoon Ahn, who’s been living in the heart of it all for the past 16 years, the glow has always sparked her curiosity.
“When I walk around Shibuya, I always listen to music,” says Yoon. “So I was like, ‘It would be cool if what I'm listening to also glowed and became part of the environment.’”
That simple idea translated into the latest Beats / AMBUSH collaboration: a limited run of glow-in-the-dark Powerbeats that shine with the brilliant glow of Shibuya. It’s the first glow-in-the-dark headphone from Beats, breaking new ground for the brand.
The Beats / AMBUSH Powerbeats are available for purchase November 18th.
When the sun sets on Tokyo's iconic commercial ward Shibuya, the cityscape glows with neon lights. Bustling crowds fill the streets, luminescent magic lighting their path. For AMBUSH cofounder Yoon Ahn, who’s been living in the heart of it all for the past 16 years, the glow has always sparked her curiosity.
“When I walk around Shibuya, I always listen to music,” says Yoon. “So I was like, ‘It would be cool if what I'm listening to also glowed and became part of the environment.’”
That simple idea translated into the latest Beats / AMBUSH collaboration: a limited run of glow-in-the-dark Powerbeats that shine with the brilliant glow of Shibuya. It’s the first glow-in-the-dark headphone from Beats, breaking new ground for the brand.
The Beats / AMBUSH Powerbeats are available for purchase November 18th.
When the sun sets on Tokyo's iconic commercial ward Shibuya, the cityscape glows with neon lights. Bustling crowds fill the streets, luminescent magic lighting their path. For AMBUSH cofounder Yoon Ahn, who’s been living in the heart of it all for the past 16 years, the glow has always sparked her curiosity.
“When I walk around Shibuya, I always listen to music,” says Yoon. “So I was like, ‘It would be cool if what I'm listening to also glowed and became part of the environment.’”
That simple idea translated into the latest Beats / AMBUSH collaboration: a limited run of glow-in-the-dark Powerbeats that shine with the brilliant glow of Shibuya. It’s the first glow-in-the-dark headphone from Beats, breaking new ground for the brand.
When I walk around Shibuya, I always listen to music. So I was like, ‘it would be cool if what I'm listening to also glowed and became part of the environment.’
When I walk around Shibuya, I always listen to music. So I was like, ‘it would be cool if what I'm listening to also glowed and became part of the environment.’
When I walk around Shibuya, I always listen to music. So I was like, ‘it would be cool if what I'm listening to also glowed and became part of the environment.’
From an early age, Yoon had to adjust to the unfamiliar. Because of her dad's job, her family would move all over the place, city to city, country to country, every few years.
"It wasn't the most pleasant experience," says Yoon. "It's not easy when you're a kid because it's hard to make friends when you have to constantly adapt to the environment."
But what was a struggle would soon become one of her greatest attributes. Being on the go all the time taught her how to make friends fast, how to be more tolerant of other experiences, and how to empathize with people from all walks of life. She learned to be curious of her surroundings and to quickly jump in to the unknown.
"In retrospect it really helped me to just be the person that I am today," she says. Yoon's crash course in adaptability prepared her for a winding career into the world of fashion.
Unlike most renowned designers, Yoon's ascendence in fashion and jewelry wasn’t a matter of years of schooling and academic study. Sure, she studied graphic design, but she figured she’d be a magazine designer — not the designer featured on the front page.
“It wasn't like, ‘Okay, I'm gonna work in the fashion industry,’” Yoon says. “I was just more like, 'Oh, magazine's cool, maybe I can learn graphic design.’ Looking back, everything just kind of led to where I am today.”
From an early age, Yoon had to adjust to the unfamiliar. Because of her dad's job, her family would move all over the place, city to city, country to country, every few years.
"It wasn't the most pleasant experience," says Yoon. "It's not easy when you're a kid because it's hard to make friends when you have to constantly adapt to the environment."
But what was a struggle would soon become one of her greatest attributes. Being on the go all the time taught her how to make friends fast, how to be more tolerant of other experiences, and how to empathize with people from all walks of life. She learned to be curious of her surroundings and to quickly jump in to the unknown.
"In retrospect it really helped me to just be the person that I am today," she says. Yoon's crash course in adaptability prepared her for a winding career into the world of fashion.
Unlike most renowned designers, Yoon's ascendence in fashion and jewelry wasn’t a matter of years of schooling and academic study. Sure, she studied graphic design, but she figured she’d be a magazine designer — not the designer featured on the front page.
“It wasn't like, ‘Okay, I'm gonna work in the fashion industry,’” Yoon says. “I was just more like, 'Oh, magazine's cool, maybe I can learn graphic design.’ Looking back, everything just kind of led to where I am today.”
From an early age, Yoon had to adjust to the unfamiliar. Because of her dad's job, her family would move all over the place, city to city, country to country, every few years.
"It wasn't the most pleasant experience," says Yoon. "It's not easy when you're a kid because it's hard to make friends when you have to constantly adapt to the environment."
But what was a struggle would soon become one of her greatest attributes. Being on the go all the time taught her how to make friends fast, how to be more tolerant of other experiences, and how to empathize with people from all walks of life. She learned to be curious of her surroundings and to quickly jump in to the unknown.
"In retrospect it really helped me to just be the person that I am today," she says. Yoon's crash course in adaptability prepared her for a winding career into the world of fashion.
Unlike most renowned designers, Yoon's ascendence in fashion and jewelry wasn’t a matter of years of schooling and academic study. Sure, she studied graphic design, but she figured she’d be a magazine designer — not the designer featured on the front page.
“It wasn't like, ‘Okay, I'm gonna work in the fashion industry,’” Yoon says. “I was just more like, 'Oh, magazine's cool, maybe I can learn graphic design.’ Looking back, everything just kind of led to where I am today.”
She struck gold when she moved to Toyko amid a huge music movement in the early 2000s. The nightlife was unparalleled: artists, musicians, tastemakers and designers filled the scene and turned every evening into a fashion show. She was introduced to more creative people than ever before — including her husband and AMBUSH cofounder Verbal — practically turning her nightlife into fashion school.
“In order to stand out, you had to be the flyest person in the room. That's how I learned about marketing. Not in a traditional, academic kind of way, but in a real life kind of way.”
Yoon was invited to help in PR for a fashion brand. And at around the same time, she and Verbal began making jewelry pieces for fun and handing them out to friends. That quickly evolved into events and parties where they’d hand jewelry out to tastemakers from all over Japan, and that turned into buyers wanting pieces in their stores, which eventually led to AMBUSH ascending into legitimate fashion ranks. The scope of their little project grew exponentially.
She struck gold when she moved to Toyko amid a huge music movement in the early 2000s. The nightlife was unparalleled: artists, musicians, tastemakers and designers filled the scene and turned every evening into a fashion show. She was introduced to more creative people than ever before — including her husband and AMBUSH cofounder Verbal — practically turning her nightlife into fashion school.
“In order to stand out, you had to be the flyest person in the room. That's how I learned about marketing. Not in a traditional, academic kind of way, but in a real life kind of way.”
Yoon was invited to help in PR for a fashion brand. And at around the same time, she and Verbal began making jewelry pieces for fun and handing them out to friends. That quickly evolved into events and parties where they’d hand jewelry out to tastemakers from all over Japan, and that turned into buyers wanting pieces in their stores, which eventually led to AMBUSH ascending into legitimate fashion ranks. The scope of their little project grew exponentially.
She struck gold when she moved to Toyko amid a huge music movement in the early 2000s. The nightlife was unparalleled: artists, musicians, tastemakers and designers filled the scene and turned every evening into a fashion show. She was introduced to more creative people than ever before — including her husband and AMBUSH cofounder Verbal — practically turning her nightlife into fashion school.
“In order to stand out, you had to be the flyest person in the room. That's how I learned about marketing. Not in a traditional, academic kind of way, but in a real life kind of way.”
Yoon was invited to help in PR for a fashion brand. And at around the same time, she and Verbal began making jewelry pieces for fun and handing them out to friends. That quickly evolved into events and parties where they’d hand jewelry out to tastemakers from all over Japan, and that turned into buyers wanting pieces in their stores, which eventually led to AMBUSH ascending into legitimate fashion ranks. The scope of their little project grew exponentially.
We didn’t come from a traditional jewelry background, but we had a lot of ideas.
We didn’t come from a traditional jewelry background, but we had a lot of ideas.
We didn’t come from a traditional jewelry background, but we had a lot of ideas.
“We didn't have a grand vision. It was just like, ‘Okay, let's try this,’” Yoon says. “We didn’t come from a traditional jewelry background, but we had a lot of ideas.”
It’s this lack of tradition that gives AMBUSH its edge. Their pieces always look like they’re breaking rules, pushing the boundaries. From the wild and street-inspired look, to the genderless jewelry.
“I always have an outsider point of view,” she says. “I think fashion sometimes can get too narrow. There's so many possibilities if you just look outside of the scene.”
AMBUSH takes influence from everything around them: technology, streetwear, high fashion, art — anything that captures their imagination. The results can be surprising — perplexing even.
“We didn't have a grand vision. It was just like, ‘Okay, let's try this,’” Yoon says. “We didn’t come from a traditional jewelry background, but we had a lot of ideas.”
It’s this lack of tradition that gives AMBUSH its edge. Their pieces always look like they’re breaking rules, pushing the boundaries. From the wild and street-inspired look, to the genderless jewelry.
“I always have an outsider point of view,” she says. “I think fashion sometimes can get too narrow. There's so many possibilities if you just look outside of the scene.”
AMBUSH takes influence from everything around them: technology, streetwear, high fashion, art — anything that captures their imagination. The results can be surprising — perplexing even.
“We didn't have a grand vision. It was just like, ‘Okay, let's try this,’” Yoon says. “We didn’t come from a traditional jewelry background, but we had a lot of ideas.”
It’s this lack of tradition that gives AMBUSH its edge. Their pieces always look like they’re breaking rules, pushing the boundaries. From the wild and street-inspired look, to the genderless jewelry.
“I always have an outsider point of view,” she says. “I think fashion sometimes can get too narrow. There's so many possibilities if you just look outside of the scene.”
AMBUSH takes influence from everything around them: technology, streetwear, high fashion, art — anything that captures their imagination. The results can be surprising — perplexing even.
I would meet editors-in-chief and presidents of certain companies and I would try to explain our collection and what the brand's about. And they'd just stare blankly at me.
I would meet editors-in-chief and presidents of certain companies and I would try to explain our collection and what the brand's about. And they'd just stare blankly at me.
I would meet editors-in-chief and presidents of certain companies and I would try to explain our collection and what the brand's about. And they'd just stare blankly at me.
Yoon says the industry has rigid expectations of what a designer should be. They think they should look and act a certain way — and belong to a certain gender. For someone whose upbringing sent them all over, learning from people all over the world, the last place she wanted to be is in a box.
"I didn't want to be stereotyped," she said. "So I just kept putting things out and showing through my actions that that wasn't me."
Over time Yoon and AMBUSH overcame whatever barriers and limitations were set in front of them: from confused editors to skeptical factories unwilling to take on new brands. She hopes AMBUSH continues to surprise the world and herself as it expands into more cultures.
From its start as a gift among friends to a global force in the industry, it’s still surreal to Yoon that AMBUSH has become so influential. She hopes young creatives see her story as inspiration to get out there and start creating — regardless of their traditional credentials.
“Just stay true to yourself. Don't worry about what other people are doing," she says. "At the end of the day, if you have good stuff and a good story to tell, you will be heard.”
Yoon says the industry has rigid expectations of what a designer should be. They think they should look and act a certain way — and belong to a certain gender. For someone whose upbringing sent them all over, learning from people all over the world, the last place she wanted to be is in a box.
"I didn't want to be stereotyped," she said. "So I just kept putting things out and showing through my actions that that wasn't me."
Over time Yoon and AMBUSH overcame whatever barriers and limitations were set in front of them: from confused editors to skeptical factories unwilling to take on new brands. She hopes AMBUSH continues to surprise the world and herself as it expands into more cultures.
From its start as a gift among friends to a global force in the industry, it’s still surreal to Yoon that AMBUSH has become so influential. She hopes young creatives see her story as inspiration to get out there and start creating — regardless of their traditional credentials.
“Just stay true to yourself. Don't worry about what other people are doing," she says. "At the end of the day, if you have good stuff and a good story to tell, you will be heard.”
Yoon says the industry has rigid expectations of what a designer should be. They think they should look and act a certain way — and belong to a certain gender. For someone whose upbringing sent them all over, learning from people all over the world, the last place she wanted to be is in a box.
"I didn't want to be stereotyped," she said. "So I just kept putting things out and showing through my actions that that wasn't me."
Over time Yoon and AMBUSH overcame whatever barriers and limitations were set in front of them: from confused editors to skeptical factories unwilling to take on new brands. She hopes AMBUSH continues to surprise the world and herself as it expands into more cultures.
From its start as a gift among friends to a global force in the industry, it’s still surreal to Yoon that AMBUSH has become so influential. She hopes young creatives see her story as inspiration to get out there and start creating — regardless of their traditional credentials.
“Just stay true to yourself. Don't worry about what other people are doing," she says. "At the end of the day, if you have good stuff and a good story to tell, you will be heard.”