Rebellious Youth in Levi’s® x AMBUSH®

Drawing inspiration from documentarian photographers like Derek Ridgers and Karlheinz Weinberger, the Levi’s® x AMBUSH® Season 1 campaign captures two archetypical, rebellious characters. Bridging classic denim culture with contemporary punk aesthetics, the images riff off a meshing of underground subcultures from London to Tokyo.
Ridgers defined an era of UK punk clubs in the late 70s and 80s, photographing kids in the scene as they attended parties and shows. Spiky hair, pin badges, and DIY cut-up clothes connected the photos’ subjects to a visceral kind of fashion and self-expression. Weinberger’s images, taken decades earlier, reflected queer youth culture in the rock-and-roll scene in Zürich. Two different worlds, two different eras, both expressing authentic counterculture of their time.
Our defiant duo, Hugo and Xia, photographed by Kristin-lee Moolman, bring this kind of fringe attitude to the present day with Tokyo-inspired style. Their unconventional narrative tells the story of troublemakers who go their own way, risk their jobs for their passions, and pursue what attracts them most. The tongue-in-cheek film brings the nearer past into today with references to the glory days of tasteless TV talk shows and self-shot video mixtapes.
The collaborative collection borrows iconography of the past to create symbols of the future with tokens from the AMBUSH® and Levi’s® brands. Subcultures through the ages merge to create a distinct image of tomorrow’s rebellious youth.
Shop the limited collection at ambushdesign.com, levis.com, and select AMBUSH® stores.