It was at the University of Boston that everything began in the late 90s. While Verbal, of Japanese origin, pursued meekly studies of philosophy and marketing, Yoon , she of Korean origin, predestined ex officio to the profession of graphic designer. Yet in 1998 when Verbal left Boston for Tokyo, he joined the hip-hop group M-Flo and began a musical career.

Under the impetus of Yoon , Verbal gradually began trading his traditional street uniform, made of sneakers and baggy, for more sophisticated pieces from the Raf Simons or Dior Homme collections. A clothing attitude that testifies to the beginnings of a phenomenon that has become global today, one in which the luxury industry has virtuously recaptured the stylistic DNA of urban culture and, in particular, of hip-hop culture. American .

In 2004, the couple launched a line of jewelry called Antonio Murphy & Astro made in collaboration with Tokyo jewelers craftsmen. Shops are interested in their pieces, the label seduces and very quickly, the creations of Yoon and Verbal are found on the outfits of personalities like ... Kanye West . A promising start, then.

Four years later, Yoon and Verbal create their second brand, Ambush . Gold chains XXL metallic chokers and gold bracelets "spicy", this new "ambush" knows an immediate success, especially with artists like A $ AP Rocky, Pharell Williams or Rihanna .

In 2015, their Dreamcatcher collection will be the first to be presented outside Japan and will be exhibited at Joyce Gallery in Hong Kong. Inspired by the mythical " White Album" of The Beatles, this collection of Ambush offers a modernist reinterpretation of traditional West American jewelry.

And if the jewel remains their creative starting point, the duo does not refuse to design in parallel ready-to-wear pieces, a textile extension of their goldsmith work in a conceptual mode. In 2016, jewelery doubles as clothing with underground inspirations. Tops fishnet nineties, hippie caps and oversize capes: the first collection draws its references in alternative crops, such as punk and reggae 1970 Result? In 2017, Ambush is selected among the finalists of the prestigious LVMH award.

Japanese-style icons, the two artists can today boast of having collaborated with Louis Vuitton , Colette, Shu Uemura but not only. At 42, Yoon has just been chosen by Kim Jones to design the new jewelry collections at Dior Homme. A rise in gratifying rank, which attests to the growing OPA of an anti-conformist street culture on ancestral luxury homes.