Junghoon Son, better known as Vandy the Pink, is a Virginia-based artist who redefined “bootleg” with his luxury brand logo-covered custom sneakers. This weekend we saw his eye-catching and whimsical designs adorn a t-shirt and varsity jacket to celebrate his favorite cheeseburger. He debuted the new collections at a pop-up in collaboration with SOMEWHERE® at 1239 1st St SE. In addition to the custom gear, there were free burgers for the first 100 attendees and a unique pink matcha from SOMEWHERE® cafe.
Check out the photos from the pop-up below and visit SOMEWHERE® online to learn more about the brand. You can also visit their physical locations at Navy Yard (1239 1st St SE) and Union Market (1285 4th St NE).
Who is Vandy the Pink?
Vandy started in fashion by customizing shoes and clothes, taking fabrics from luxury brands and applying them to his bespoke pieces in the tradition of creators like Dapper Dan. His brand has extended its reach to brand collaborations, homeware design, and dressing celebrities such as Lisa from Blackpink.
“I’m trying to communicate, make friends, and have fun,” said Vandy. “I’m inspired by a lot of things and want to share those inspirations and the joy they can bring with the people around me.” Those things have revealed themselves as a collection of his childish original characters.
These characters are a burger and a box of french fries, humanized with feet and eyes. “I grew up with a lot of toys and collectibles,” Vandy says. “I made both of these characters, and they wound up serving as cornerstones for my brand, giving it a voice and an ethos that I could expand on.”
But why burgers and fries? As Vandy tells it, it’s his interpretation of the age-old American dream. “I was born in Korea and moved to the US when I was in high school,” he says. “I was influenced by the commercials I was seeing, especially fast food commercials. They were so different from anything we had in Korea and would show these big, glossy hamburgers and overflowing buckets of fries. That always stuck with me.”
Check out more from Vandy the Pink on his website at www.onvandylab.org.
