By Anton Karve

For a music collective that began with founder Sean Miyashiro working out of his car on the rooftop of a Bronx parking garage, 88rising has racked up a mind-bogglingly large number of achievements. From being the first record label to be given its own official slot at Coachella, producing billions of streams (across their various artists’ music), to collaborating with high-profile fashion brands, to producing the official soundtrack for a Marvel movie, and now to running their own, self-contained music festivals, the collective can take its due share of credit for slingshotting Asian music into mainstream appeal.

88rising’s lineup contains a vast range of personalities, genres, styles and aesthetics—so the collective was always bound to dip its toes into the world of fashion and streetwear. While 88rising’s stars busy themselves with preparations for the 2022 edition of their annual music extravaganza Head in the Clouds 2022, happening in Jakarta this weekend (3-4 Dec) and in Manila next weekend (9-10 Dec), let’s take a look at some of their best moments in the realm of streetwear.

1. Guess x 88rising

Guess x 88rising is possibly the label’s most extensive fashion collaboration yet. The collab is still ongoing, and as of now there have already been several iterations and releases, with no signs of stopping.

2021’s Guess Originals x 88rising collection kept with Guess’ classic triangular logo look, stylized with 88rising’s signature icons, such as double hearts, ‘rising’ question marks and oriental-style dragons coiled into the shape of a “88”. Also featured across the collection were locations scribbled in cursive, denoting the origins of the collectives’ various members, such as Miyashiro’s hometown, San Jose.

2022’s GUE88 collection completely switched it up, including a wider range of designs featuring 88risings key motifs. The world caught its first glimpse of the GUE88 collection through an old-school yearbook-inspired photoshoot featuring the collective’s biggest stars, such as NIKI, Joji, Rich Brian and Higher Brothers.

Tie-dye colors, new materials and additional apparel types were introduced, indicating both brand’s willingness to break out of the box—making us extra excited about what’s to come from this collab.

2. Ambush x 88rising

After a rapidly sold-out collaboration at Coachella 2022, 88rising teamed up with contemporary Japanese jewellery label AMBUSH to produce yet another apparel collection just this August. The theme: surfing.

In a moody, aesthetic photoshoot, Indonesian rapper Warren Hue glares at the camera from different angles while showcasing the various offerings from the collection. The key motif seems to be a silver shark—taking a bite out of the 88rising logo—sometimes seen mirrored by a Silver Surfer-like AMBUSH surfboard Hue carries in several of the photos.

Supposedly, the photoshoot’s lookbook, titled “ETERNAL SURF DREAM”, centres around Hue on the way back from an afternoon surfing, dropping by a local bodega to grab a snack before continuing on his journey home. Though we’ve never taken a nap on a convenience store’s floor, Warren Hue clearly knows something we don’t.

3. NIKI, Rich Brian and Warren Hue shine in ‘California’

When NIKI, Rich Brian and Warren Hue showed up in the ‘California’ music video, they showed up in style. As each artist sang and/or rapped about their various experiences moving to—of course—California, the clear blue skies, earthy palm trees and blazing sunlight framed the trio’s outfits in the perfect midsummer setting.

NIKI rocked an eloquent old-school vacation outfit with circular sunglasses, flower-patterned necktie and shirt tucked into brown khakis. Brian and Hue came in matching preppy looks, with Brian layering a plaid overcoat, deep brown corduroys and what appear to be Doc Martens, while Hue shined bright with a yellow striped tee over plaid bell bottoms and a battered pair of Converse high-tops.

The whole video glowed with positive summer vibes, perfectly complimenting the overarching themes of the song—uprooting yourself and moving to a new environment like California may be a difficult process, but sometimes it’s best to just get out and enjoy the Cali sun.

4. TEAM WANG pops up in Singapore

In a surprise move to many, 88rising’s resident renaissance man Jackson Wang dropped by Singapore to kick off the “MUDANCE” Concept Space and later host a massive party at Marquee, the country’s largest nightclub. The “MUDANCE” Concept Space is a pop-up boutique by Jackson Wang’s very own design label, TEAM WANG.

The entire space focuses on a common aesthetic of pink flora by the beach. Nearly every surface of the area—floors, walls, even ceilings, were decked out in an aesthetic pastel pink. The centerpiece of the pop-up was a beach set that featured pink ‘palm trees’ and floral-patterned deck chairs sitting atop a sandy island.

The pink floral motif continued into the store’s offerings, as the TEAM WANG collection stocked in the boutique featured floral shirts, tank tops and bikinis, along with white and pink gradient tees and crop-tops. Of course, as with anything Jackson Wang, it was a massive hit and sold out as soon as the public caught word of it.

Images via TEAM WANG, @henrycckuen

5. Rich Brian in ‘VIVID’

An artsy music video to Rich Brian’s “VIVID” feat. $NOT dropped just a couple of weeks before his upcoming headline act in Head in the Clouds 2022, depicting Brian facing off against a tuxedo-clad businessman in a golf driving range. Symbolic imagery, flashy visuals and some pretty cool framing techniques all came together in the music video, but amongst the noise, Rich Brian’s various fits stood out to us.

A recurring scene showed Brian standing in the center of a circle of golden lucky cats, which—cool shot aside—gave us a good look at his techwear-esque outfit. Baggy, synthetic trousers concealed a pair of chunky black shoes, but on top of it all he wore a fascinating blue sweater with what seemed to be embroidered grass leaves—a design and color combination that probably wouldn’t work unless styled in that certain way, pictured in that specific environment. Meanwhile, other cuts of the video showed him dripped out in a classic fur-lined coat.

Rich Brian has consistently shown that he’s willing to experiment and break out of his shell, not just in terms of his music, but in other aspects such as fashion, as he’s clearly shown.

Just like Brian, 88rising, and all those contained within, seems to be constantly growing, developing—rising. They refuse to be placed within a box, and have a knack for subverting one’s expectations. As a result, nobody really knows what they’ll do next, but whatever that may be, if it’s anywhere as good as what they’ve accomplished so far, we’re here for it. What about you?

Photoshoot, Music Video Images from 88rising