Yoon Ahn on Jewelry Design, Building Ambush, and Collaborating with Nike

Designer and Creative Director Yoon Ahn takes us on a journey from studying graphic design at Boston University, to meeting Verbal and launching the wildly successful jewelry brand, Ambush. In this episode, Ahn sits down with Noah Callahan-Bever to discuss how her first pieces of jewelry turned into visions of a fashion platform, and how she developed a process for her creativity. This led to Ahn collaborating with Nike and creating iconic looks for tennis star Naomi Osaka. Chapters: 0:00 Intro / Future of Fashion 4:20 Growing Up / Parents Influence 9:30 Seeking Out Culture 11:00 High School Style / Discovery of Design 12:50 Graphic Design at Boston University / Meeting Verbal 14:40 Tokyo in 2003 / Early Projects 17:30 First Jewelry Pieces and Collections 19:00 Starting Ambush 23:00 Process for Making Creativity Repeatable 27:15 Running a Business / The Good and Bad 29:30 Relationship with Nike / 2019 Dunk 31:28 Naomi Osaka Collaboration 37:00 Keys to Managing Others 39:40 Navigating a Personal and Business Relationship with Verbal 41:39 Dealing with Burnout 42:20 Building a Fashion Platform, Not a Brand IDEA GENERATION is a 360° media platform catering to the creative class which exists to educate and inspire the mavericks of tomorrow. Follow IDEA GENERATION on Instagram:   / ideageneration   Subscribe to IDEA GENERATION’s The Spark Newsletter for creative entrepreneurs: https://ideageneration.substack.com/ Subscribe to Complex on YouTube:    / complex   Check out more of Complex here: http://www.complex.com   / complex     / complex     / complex   COMPLEX is a community of creators and curators, armed with the Internet, committed to surfacing and sharing the voices and conversations that define our new America. Our videos exemplify convergence culture, exploring topics that include music, sneakers, style, sports, and pop culture through original shows and Complex News segments. Featuring your favorite celebrities, authoritative commentary, and a unique voice, our videos make culture pop.