Streetwear Spotlight: Akufuncture

Article written by: SoJones Asmara
Posted on: October 15, 2009

They’re new, they’re fresh, yet everyone has heard about them. Akufuncture started off on a high gear and they show no signs of stopping. While success is seemingly nearer in Hollywood, Samuel Wang and his team still aspire to bring back the blend of Chinese culture and urban fashion back to its roots in Asia. Sojones.com digs more from Samuel Wang who dishes about his new and hip clothing line, Akufuncture.

Introduce yourself and describe how your brand was started?

Akufuncture was founded in December 2008 in an effort to create a streetwear line that represents the essence of Chinese culture. For a long time now, Japanese culture has had a prominent place in the urban fashion scene. We felt this was a clear indication that there has always been that thirst for the “oriental mystique” in Western culture. China has more than 5000 years of history behind it, full of myths, heroes and more and it’s about time that the West got to know a little more about it. Essentially, the goal of Akufuncture is to get you in touch with the “essence of the East” through a new trend of “fusion fashion.”

We brought together a group of people that shared the same visions and just went ahead with the designs. I want to say we planned this out for a while but it was just a lot of drive to reach a goal that we shared.

Describe this season and next season’s looks. Include any sources of inspiration.

This season continues the line’s trend of blending urban fashion with Chinese culture – this time bringing elements of ancient Chinese stories and myths to the designs. Following the success of our debut line, Akufuncture’s Fall/Winter ‘09 season is set out to make a bold statement with fresh colors, exciting designs and new stories.

Themes of Chinese superstitions and myths dominate this season, along with bright touches of purple and pink gradients throughout. Those familiar with Chinese culture will recognize the popular symbols of the swallow, the lion, hulu and more. And for those who might not be so acquainted with these images? They’ll get the chance to become more familiar with some well-known bits of Chinese culture while rocking cool urban fashion. Popular images from the company’s debut line will also make a reappearance this season — now back with a more mature and sophisticated look.

What celeb or well-known figure(s) exemplify the brand?

Akufuncture has gotten the opportunity to work with local some talents based in the Los Angeles area. We currently are sponsoring Diamond Set, an up and coming force in the new jerking scene. They are wildly popular in the Los Angeles area and are known nationwide for this new dance craze.

We are also starting up projects with artists that share similar goals as Akufuncture. We’ve been working with Hsu-Nami, a progressive rock instrumental band based in New York, known for their use of the traditional Chinese instrument, the erhu.

Any product placements on celebs, in movies or videos to keep an eye out for?

A shirt from our debut line was featured in Far East Movement’s music video for their song, “Fetish.” Here’s their video.

Any expansion plans?

We’re enjoying our success here in the states, but hopefully in the future we’ll be able to go back to our roots a bit. This means expansion into Asian markets, particularly China and Taiwan. It’d be awesome to work in a market where many of our inspirations have originated from and see how they’re received there.

Looking ahead over the next year or two, what themes/looks/styles do you see your brand gravitating to?

We will definitely be continuing with our core goal of creating Chinese inspired clothing, but we hope to move towards incorporating more sophisticated and high fashion pieces in our future collections. We’ve started out with the basics, but now have plans to add more products, including jackets, jeans, hats and shoes.

What themes/looks/styles do you see your brand moving away from?

As a very young brand, it’s hard to say what kinds of looks Akufuncture will stay clear from in the future. I think we’ve gotten off to a great start and we hope to build on the success of the themes and styles that have worked well for us already. That being said, there is so much more we hope to branch out to and accomplish; so it’s definitely difficult right now to know where that’ll take us.

What has been a surprise fashion hit over the last year?

The surprise fashion hit over the last year would probably be the androgynous look that’s taking over the New York fashion scene, but what do we know? We are just a street wear company.

Akufuncture managed to catch the public’s attention with their designs.  You can see the full Akufuncture collection at their official website, www.akufuncture.com.  With only about $30.00 you can cop a t-shirt of your choice.  Here are some recommendations.