Timed to the 25th anniversary of the Lexus IS, Ambush and Lexus have teamed up for the launch of the Future Classic Club — which features a new capsule collection and film, the companies revealed on Monday.
“Lexus and Ambush share a Japanese foundation, but both have always looked beyond Japan,” Yoon Ahn, founder and designer of Ambush, told WWD in an interview. “The IS [car] especially interested us because it has evolved for decades without losing its identity. That idea of something enduring while continuing to change became the starting point for ‘Future Classic Club.’ We wanted to explore what makes something relevant not just today, but years from now.”
As for why the partnership with Lexus and the convergence of the two worlds? Ahn said cars and fashion have both become part of the wider extension of people’s overall identity — living, personalizing and aging with them, alongside connecting people to a time and culture.
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“Ambush has always been about taking familiar objects and shifting their context,” Ahn explained. “Future Classic Club comes from that same instinct. It’s less about an actual ‘club’ and more about a mindset; people who recognize something before everybody else decides it matters. We also liked the tension in the name: a classic normally gets defined retrospectively, whereas a ‘future classic’ asks you to recognize that quality in the present.”
Lisa McQueen, senior manager of marketing at Lexus, also shared that the idea of the Future Classic Club came about from the brand’s notable Japanese design heritage and reinterpreting it through Ambush’s global and contemporary lens.
“Today’s luxury audience doesn’t just consume culture; they live it,” she continued. “For them, luxury isn’t about showing off, but rather an extension of self and a way to express personal style. They’re drawn to objects and ideas that feel considered, original and meaningful. Whether it’s fashion, art, music or other pockets of culture, we want to meet them where their interests already exist and create experiences that bring people together around those shared passions.”
Ahn created a limited-edition collection inspired by the Lexus IS, featuring both apparel and hardware accessories. Ahn explained that the collection was created for people who are “constantly moving” between various worlds of music, fashion, art, technology, cities and cultures — who don’t belong in one category.
“For this project, we looked at the IS as a designed object — its materials, hardware, upholstery, engineering and details — and translated those cues into clothing and accessories,” said Ahn. “That process felt very natural to the way Ambush works.”
The capsule collection includes a Future Classic Club leather fireman jacket, a red quilted jacket, a Future Classic Club crest T-shirt, a recorded design session T-shirt, a Future Classic Club long-sleeve T-shirt, a Future Classic Club cap and a Future Classic Club carabiner.
The launch of the Future Classic Club also debuts with a film inspired by early Japanese cinema, directed by Xavier Tera and starring three club members: professional drifter Sara Choi, artist, actor and dancer Reo Sano and musician and DJ Reiji Okamoto.
Lexus and Ambush are also issuing an open invitation for creators, designers and others to join the Future Classic Club and will be hosting a series of cultural moments and activations starting with a New York Fashion Week event on Monday night for a first look at the collection.
“The Future Classic Club is a celebration of that energy and a way of recognizing originality while it’s happening, not years later. NYFW felt like a natural backdrop to launch the Future Classic Club because fashion itself is such a powerful intersection of personal style, creativity and culture. New ideas and conversations are happening here in real time, and you see people actively bringing their own unique points of view into the world. We wanted to celebrate the work and the people behind it, but even more so the originality, craft and perspective that give it meaning and the potential to endure beyond the moment,” concluded McQueen.
The Ambush x Lexus Future Classic Club capsule collection retails for $120 to $2,600 and will be available for purchase on Friday at midnight on ambushdesign.com.
