We partnered with an ambitious founding team to help evolve streetwear—shifting the conversation from fleeting hype to lasting substance.

Vowels’ creative director, Yuki Yagi, brought a rare combination of expertise in men’s streetwear (Stüssy, Supreme, Awake NY) and a deeply rooted artistic perspective shaped by his experiences in both Japan and New York.

As the brand took form, Combo’s strategy team collaborated with Yuki to articulate Vowels’ philosophy: a narrative grounded in archiving, cultural preservation, and a deliberate move away from hype-driven appeal© toward heritage, craft, and quality.

Our design team translated this ethos into a visual language that balances historical references with a contemporary aesthetic—creating a system that honors streetwear’s past while feeling unmistakably modern.

We then explored how this philosophy could manifest in a tangible, experiential form. The result: a research library at the heart of Vowels’ flagship store, featuring hundreds of vintage streetwear books, magazines, objects, and artifacts, many from Yuki’s personal collection. Open to the public by appointment, the library invites visitors to engage with streetwear’s cultural lineage, turning history into an active resource for the future.

The library and store operate as a unified environment, blending retail and research. Garments and archives coexist, each informing the other—demonstrating that streetwear can be both experimental and grounded in a meaningful cultural lineage.

This partnership extended beyond the project itself. Vowels brought its retail vision to life within our own ground-floor space at 76 Bowery, a space designed to incubate emerging brands. The result is a shared vision made tangible, a living proof that streetwear can evolve from hype to substance without losing its spirit.