Anti Social Social Club Unveils First Global Flagship in Seoul
LONDON — Anti Social Social Club, the direct-to-consumer streetwear label, is expanding into brick-and-mortar on Friday with its South Korean distributor, Kasina, to open its first global flagship in Dosan, a trendy neighborhood in the Gangnam area of Seoul.
The flagship space, designed by Seoul-based studio Archi@mosphere, is adorned with industrial pink anodized aluminum, glass-paneled walls and a cement floor.
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It features a selection of the brand's ready-to-wear offerings, like the Quickstrike lines with Assassin's Creed and WWE, and a Seoul exclusive 'Chapter Dosan' collection. The store also will showcase a rotating display of rare vintage cars.
Romney Jacob, vice president of brand at Marquee Brands, which acquired Anti Social Social Club in 2022, said the store has some of the best neighbors in the street fashion scene in Seoul: Supreme, Palace and Noah.
Coinciding with the opening, the store will host an archive exhibition featuring playful items such as camping gear, frying pans, lanterns and past collaborations, like the Playboy cushion and sleep mask.
Ian Coates, founder and creative director of Anti Social Social Club, will host a series of talks with artists and fashion industry professionals in South Korea to explore the brand's evolving identity.
Jacob said South Korean culture has been integral to the brand since its inception.
'According to our lore, a bad breakup with a Korean girl was the motive behind the founding of the brand, and Korean graphics and characters have been frequent design motifs. It's fitting to commemorate our 10th anniversary with the opening of our first flagship in the country that inspired it all,' she added.
The brand and its Seoul team have also codeveloped a customization program exclusive to the flagship, allowing visitors 'to immerse themselves in the ASSC ethos in the physical world that will add richness and texture to the experience in a way that just isn't possible online,' according to Jacob.
'Our retail environment will have ASSC Easter eggs hidden around the store, constantly changing, allowing us to create an experience that keeps both our superfans and new customers coming back. Combine that with a full slate of activation programming for future collaborations, and we will take the ASSC experience to the next level,' she touted.
A new lineup of products is planned to be released every week.
The international expansion comes after Anti Social Social Club had largely stuck to its direct-to-consumer, drop model since its inception. In addition to tapping Kasina for a South Korea partnership, it last year signed on Luke 1977 in the U.K. to bring the brand to a larger customer base.
The brand first started offering three drops a year, with each drop lasting roughly two hours. Anti Social Social Club was founded in 2014 by NikeTalk forum member Neek Lurk, who is no longer associated with the company.
Looking ahead, Jacob said the brand's next 10 years will be reinventing the category once again.
'Much as the brand has pioneered the drop model and the use of Instagram as a marketing channel, we will continue to be at the forefront of culture and technology, figuring out the best way to hack the latest developments in these areas to enrich our customers' experiences and build our brand exponentially,' she said.
'More practically, the next decade will definitively be characterized by dedicated ASSC stores around the world, executing on a business model that is equal parts globalized and localized — a model that our 'born of the internet' brand can uniquely deliver,' she added.
Jacob confirmed that the company is actively looking for like-minded brands to 'join our cause and see our future business as an accelerator of a portfolio of meaningful and commercial youth brands, providing all the capabilities necessary to allow them to fully meet their global brand potential.'
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