Yoon Ahn (born November 21, 1976) is an American businesswoman and fashion designer. She studied graphic design at Boston University and graduated in 1998. She is known as the creative director of her brand Ambush and as Dior Homme's jewelry design director. Ahn is currently based in Tokyo, Japan.
Biography
Before the final launch of Ambush, Ahn founded multiple design companies. After graduating from college, Ahn co-founded the Ambush Design Company in 2002, a creative design organization where she created original album covers for her husband, Verbal, and other performing artists. In 2003, Ahn moved to Tokyo with her family where she and her husband laid the groundwork for their future jewelry line. Shortly afterward, in 2004, Ahn co-founded jewelry brand Antonio Murphy & Astro. She designed couture jewelry and accessory pieces for hip-hop contemporaries under the Antonio Murphy & Astro line.
Ahn started to gain recognition within the fashion industry as mainstream celebrities such Kanye West famously donned her AMBUSH 'POW!' pendant, among other creations. Through such high-profile connections, Ahn was introduced to other designers including Virgil Abloh and Kim Jones. In 2008, Ahn and Verbal officially launched their joint high fashion jewelry label Ambush. In 2018, Ahn was appointed as the new Dior Homme jewelry line designer by then Dior creative director Kim Jones. She made her official debut at the Spring/Summer Paris men's fashion week.
Ahn has stated that she does not have a unique fashion genre that she adheres to. Her fascination with pop art references can be seen throughout her designs for both Ambush and Dior Homme. Bold, gold, and/or metal jewelry mixed with themes referencing American and Tokyo hip-hop fashion styles remain consistent within her avant-garde designs.
Background
Ahn's father was in the military and her family moved often within the United States and abroad. She spent most of her childhood in Seattle. Ahn first became fascinated with the fashion industry while perusing mainstream fashion magazines while working part-time at her local public library. She became interested in the New York downtown fashion scene through these magazines before later deciding to commit to a graphic design major. Despite having no traditional training in fashion design, Ahn rose in the ranks of the fashion world through her design background and the experiences garnered through high-profile connections and friendships. While working on Ambush with her husband, Verbal, in Japan, Ahn handled the PR side of the business for the label Billionaire Boys Club, a streetwear brand founded by Pharrell Williams and Nigo. During that time (2008–2011), she worked with Williams and Kim Jones while executing her Ambush collaboration with Louis Vuitton in the making of Playbutton, Ahn's design of a wearable music player, garnering her more attention within the fashion industry. In addition to acting as creative director of Ambush, Ahn continues to operate as a member of her creative consultancy alongside her husband, having partnered up and collaborated in the past with brands and e-commence businesses like Beats by Dre.