Who founded AMBUSH? Details explored as Yoon Ahn and Verbal regain the complete ownership of the brand

The brand AMBUSH was co-founded by Yoon Ahn and Verbal in 2008. They sold a controlling stake to New Guards Group in 2020.

Yoon Ahn and Verbal recently reclaimed full control of the stylish brand from the ground up, and now they’re ready to electrify and lead fashion on their own bold, creative terms. The announcement signals the brand’s departure from the New Guards Group portfolio, four years after selling a controlling stake to the Italian streetwear incubator.

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Who founded AMBUSH?

Yoon Ahn is a businesswoman and fashion designer. She chose to study graphic design at Boston University and graduated in 2000. The fashion designer is the creative director of her brand and Dior Men's jewelry design director.

Verbal is a rapper, music video director, and record producer from Japan. He is the chairman of the music label Espionage Records. He co-founded AMBUSH with his wife Yoon Ahn. The rapper started his solo career in 2011 with the album "Visionair".

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Details explored as Yoon Ahn and Verbal regain the complete ownership of the brand

New Guards Group has faced a series of challenges, including filing for the Italian equivalent of bankruptcy protection and parting ways with notable labels like Palm Angels. The group's parent company, Farfetch, has also undergone major restructuring, following its acquisition by South Korean e-commerce platform Coupang in 2023.

Now, the fashion brand opens a new chapter. Yoon and Verbal has regained the ownership of the company. Co-founder Yoon Ahn highlighted the significance of the milestone, emphasizing how full control would allow the brand to realign with its founding principles. For a brand that truly made its mark by daring to be different and pushing boundaries, this change signals a concentrated effort to reassert its core values.

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The evolution of AMBUSH

AMBUSH began as an experimental jewelry label, incorporating Tokyo’s bold pop culture aesthetics into its now-iconic designs. Over time, the fashion brand evolved into a cutting-edge brand as they kept on impressing customers with their work on clothes and other items. They came up with a signature style for men and women alike, and they made street-style elegant and luxurious.

"AMBUSH - an experimental jewelry line that captures Tokyo culture, started with POP ART as its foundation. The POW! motif, which can be said to be a representative work, has attracted attention from media and artists around the world. In order to further express the brand's concept, apparel was added as a "canvas" for the jewelry, and the design of the collection evolved into a unisex collection," says the official Ambush website.

In its journey from Tokyo’s underground scene to the international fashion stage, the fashion brand has continually pushed creative boundaries. The brand’s first exhibition in Paris in 2015 marked the start of its global ascent, with Yoon and Verbal earning recognition from Business of Fashion and becoming LVMH Prize finalists in 2017. Those big steps showed how much this brand has risen to become a big player in the fashion world.

The brand's collaborations with companies include Louis Vuitton, Sacai, Off-White, Nike, and Rimowa. These projects allowed AMBUSH to integrate its aesthetic into a variety of mediums, solidifying its status as a cultural touchstone. In 2018, the brand joined the runway circuit during Amazon Fashion Week Tokyo, and by 2019, Yoon had been appointed jewelry designer for Dior Men under Kim Jones.

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With their fresh return to full independence, AMBUSH is primed for yet another exciting journey where fashion, art, and culture collide brightly.