On Thursday evening the Notre store filled with many of Chicagos fashion enthusiasts. They were all there for one of the Notre Talks. Notre is a luxury fashion boutique that carries a variety of luxury fashion brands in store. Their Notre talks bring creatives from the luxury sphere to the store to have a talk about their company, their latest venture, as well as questions the audience might have.
For this year, Notre partnered with UGG and brought designer Yooh Ahn to talk speak about the UGG x AMBUSH shoe collaboration that had just launched. Yoon Ahn is the owner of AMBUSH, a Japanese based luxury streetwear brand that caters to both men and women. It’s aesthetic can be described as standout classics; with garments like a women’s heart-cutout white t-shirt or a men’s crocodile leather baseball shirt. While, UGG is a well-known American fashion brand, which is famously known for its shearling boots or slippers.
The event was lively from the start with a line forming at 5 p.m. as seats were limited, but the space had plenty of standing room. Being a fashion talk, everyone had great outfits and had their own individuality shown. When the doors opened it was a swift process with just stating your name and seeing if you were on the list.
The event had free drinks, (which is always a plus in my book) both alcoholic and non. In reviewing the Remy Arnold Palmer, the bartender was heavy handed. Which depending on your taste can be a good or bad thing.
While the talk was supposed to begin at 6 p.m., per the event listing, it did not commence until 7:00 p.m.; when Ahn walked in from the front door, drink in hand, recording the audience. (Talk about fashionably late) She spoke on her background and rise in the industry, the recent collaboration she had with UGG, as well as taking questions from the audience.
She mentioned how growing up she really liked magazines and that is what inspired her to get into graphic design and getting a degree from Boston University. She never intended to do fashion, but her knowledge of design paired with the fun she had; a brand was created. While her family was not always with her ideas, she still pursued her career I had to show them I was doing the right thing choices because “They don’t hate it, they just can’t comprehend it. She said that the best part of having your own brand is the freedom, “These are my ideas, let me execute them”, letting her dreams and passions guide her creative direction.
On collaborating with brands she states, “For collaborating, I want to stay true to myself and the brand I’m working with. I pull ideas that I have that I think can mesh with the brand I’m working with. Mixing the ideas that I have with what the collaborators want.” She continues and adds “You cannot be mad when the collaborators say no to an idea. At the end of the day it is a collaboration and if you really want something do it for your own brand.”
When speaking upon the UGG x AMBUSH shoe collaboration she says “They are comfortable and fun.” There are six shoes in the collaboration for the Autumn/Winter 2025 collection with 3 for men and 2 for women. The chukka boots for men are classic silhouettes with the fur added on that make them contemporary. The furboots for women have more fur on the silhouette making them not only contemporary but very useful for the upcoming cold weather, mixing fashion with utilitarianism.
The audience also had time to ask a variety of questions:
Someone asked “What’s the best course of action to get the attention of people?” She answered “Focus on the core audience that you want. Focus on them first, so it can connect to the people that it needs to connect to.” She also suggest that creatives be comfortable with themselves to really let their work shine. She states “The best creatives are the one that tell their best story because they know themselves. Really spend time to know yourself and be comfortable in your skin.”
“Confidence took decades of work. It’s not shallow. I worked on upgrading myself.”
When asked about taking a break while in fashion she stated “I sometimes feel guilty being an immigrant Child. But it is needed. Fashion is a shithole now. The industry wants us to output so much in so little time. Just constant collection after collection… I took a month off in the summer and checked myself in a wellness center to really recover and take care of my body and meditate. You don’t need that extreme. What I do now, I stop. I go to sleep and give myself time to think about whatever is taking up my mind.
When asked about getting to the position she is in now she talks about how any opportunity should be taken “You might get a job and it’s not the type of job that you want right, You just have to go into a place or wherever they give you the chance. For me it happened to be a very boring like corporate design firm.But even at the time, i was like ‘okay this was given to me, let me see what I can learn and take away from here’ And from there I took everything step by step. Some creativity is experience… Also sometimes you just have to ask people as well. People are a lot nicer than you think. Really talking to people and being on the ground building things grassroots style helps.“
An audience member asked “Where did you get your confidence?” Ahn answered “Confidence took decades of work. It’s not shallow. I worked on upgrading myself.
My best friend Michelle asked “As a women not only in fashion but in a position of power, how do you navigate your career in our society?” Ahn replied “It was hard in the beginning. It’s a sausage fest.” Laughter erupts among the audience, she continues ,
“But it is different working with men and women. I had to adopt more. I knew if I proved myself through my work I’d get their respect and then get to do what I want.” She adds “Society is going to continue we are a product of society and how women get judged. To this day, I get judged by my older peers and get questioned. My looks get me judged. I am well groomed, but that is because that is how i interpret self respect and I take it seriously. It will continue: society will judge you but you have to be true to yourself.”
A lot of questions were asked and I did not write them down as I found them to not be good questions. Having a discussion with two of my friends who also attened, we came to a consenscous that a lot of the questions being asked were not good. They were all surface level and self centered. The questions were a lot of “How can I?” instead of “How did you?” Which reminds me of a point she had brought up earlier in how people do not want to foster comunnities but want quick connections. The audience wanted answers rather than getting to know Ahn more in depth and her experiences, which in turn, would have also given answers to these questions with a more personal touch.
I enjoyed myself at this event overall. While the wait was not the best and it did start to get really warm because of the amount of people there, it was a good event. Not to mention it was free! Also, free Alcohol! It truly was enjoyable. I liked that Yoon Ahn was real and raw. It was not any PR scripted bullshit. It was her speaking for herself about her experiences and reality. I would definitely recommend others to attend a Notre talk if possible.
J’s Journal 