If you’re a Gen “Preppy” conjures up images of students in tailored shorts, boat shoes and Lacoste polo shirts. There’s Tommy Hilfiger, Abercrombie & Fitch, Ralph Lauren, J. Crew.
However, if you’re Gen Alpha, at least according to TikTok, “preppy” means something completely different: Stanley cups, pastel athleisure, cute smiley images. But at designer Yoon Ahn’s imaginary high school, where she contextualizes her latest Ambush collections around the school uniform, it’s the OG prep that counts.
This generational gap in fashion language is the true indicator of who Ahn is speaking to with these clothes. There’s a sense of nostalgia attached to the idea of a school uniform, whether you wear one or not, that only becomes apparent in retrospect: few teenagers actually enjoy having to wear the same thing every day. Add to this the overarching idea of collegiate Americana, which became a prominent American aesthetic indicator through high school films of youth. “We used to look up to America as the cultural leader,” Ahn said, “something aspirational because of this aesthetic that became ingrained in people and that they now want to revisit.”
Prep was exported from the US to the world to become a globalized aesthetic, one that is often more compelling (and cooler) out of context. Such was the case with this lineup, which Ahn says she created by researching images of preppiness in American literature and vintage hunting in Japan (“Japan has an obsession with Americana,” she noted) . There was a coolness in her varsity knits and the treatment of ‘Ambush’ as a team or school logo, and the omission of the argyle sweater motif as cutouts on a poplin shirt and patchwork of flannel and rugby shirts demonstrated her playful ingenuity as a designer.
Ahn said what attracted her to this preppy Americana uniform wasn’t just the nostalgia, but that there is “a steadfastness to the aesthetic.” The same stability is what Ahn strives for with her thematic research into the uniform in her collections. “Although the theme may change each season, I always make sure that what I created last season can continue into the next,” she said, adding: “we are all shopping now without ignoring what we have in the winter just because we’re about to enter spring.” Whatever we call it, there is consistency in the idea of ”preppy.” Four seasons deep in the world of uniforms, now there’s one for Ambush.
