Ahreum Ahn Takes Us on a Road Trip in This Exclusive JW Anderson x Converse Editorial
Inspired by glam rock and youth culture.
Converse‘s sophomore glitter-laden collaboration with British designer JW Anderson is sure to be an instant sell-out when it drops later this month. Ahead of the release date, South Korean model and creative Ahreum Ahn has pulled together a dreamy editorial that will give you all the styling inspo you need when it comes to wearing these kicks in the season ahead.
Hitting the desert, Ahn’s editorial is inspired by both the glam rock movement that took over music and fashion in the ’70s and more current depictions of youth culture. “I recently watched The End of the Fucking World on Netflix and finished a whole season in one day,” Ahn muses. “It reminds me of Bonnie and Clyde, but a newer version. I wanted to recreate that glam style for 2019.”
Deciding what to team with such statement-making shoes, whilst still retaining the theme and allowing the footwear collaboration to really take center-stage was more of a challenge. “I didn’t want to dress the models in a way that was too luxurious, so 90 per-cent of the clothes are vintage,” the model-turned-stylist admits. “There’s a ’70s vintage leather jacket, a Dior jersey and Jil Sander pants. I wanted to put skinny jeans on the male models but I was so busy I didn’t have the chance to do a fitting before the shoot so I worried about the skinny jeans,” she shares, before adding “Fortunately, they all fit so well!”
Of course, as a model, Ahn stars in the shoot herself, alongside executing the creative direction and styling. “I wanted to do visual design and styling even before I started my career as a model,” she says. “But working as a model and directing at the same time, it’s very interesting.” Interestingly, despite the Bonnie and Clyde comparisons, the key theme doesn’t center around reckless love but rather those pivotal, life-altering friendships, which Ahn backs up. “I wanted to create a that feeling of friends on a random road trip without a destination. I wanted to focus on the friendship, so I didn’t necessarily focus on gender.”
Take a look at the exclusive editorial in the gallery above and be sure to get a closer look at the JW Anderson x Converse collaboration, too.
