NEW at FEATURE: Thug Club
Seoul's underground has a way of producing brands that build worlds. Thug Club is one of those brands. Started in 2018 by Min (better known as Thug Min) and Kwon, who was brought on as Design Director in 2021, the label emerged in Itaewon—a neighborhood that has been Seoul's cultural crossroads since the 1950s. Rooted in Itaewon's Rebel DNA Itaewon is a living archive of Seoul's countercultures. American military presence brought jazz clubs and dive bars that clashed with Korea's conservative social fabric. By the '90s and 2000s, the district became a sanctuary for Seoul's LGBTQ+ community, then a breeding ground for hip-hop, graffiti, and street fashion. It's always been where the outsiders gather. Thug Club was born directly from that energy. Min and Kwon weren't creating fashion in a vacuum—they were responding to the sounds coming out of basement clubs, the crews mobbing through the alleys on bikes, and the creative freedom that only exists in spaces like Itaewon. The brand captures that specific Seoul underground ethos: rebellious but thoughtful, loud but intentional, global in influence but local in spirit. The THUG Philosophy The name demands explanation, and Min and Kwon don't shy away from it. In hip-hop culture, "thug" has always been complex—a word weaponized against specific communities, then reclaimed as a badge of authenticity and defiance. For Thug Club, the word carries similar weight. It's about rejecting polite fashion. Refusing to soften your edges for acceptability. Wearing your truth without apology, even and especially when it makes people uncomfortable. Min has said the brand exists for people who've been told they're "too much" and chose to be more anyway. That philosophy shows up in the clothes: oversized silhouettes that take up space, aggressive hardware that demands attention, distressed finishes that reject pristine perfection. They built the brand on hip-hop's liberating energy and the aesthetic of motorcycle culture, the freedom of the open road, the mechanical precision, the outsider brotherhood. It's fashion for people who grew up feeling like outsiders and decided that was their superpower. What started as a counter-culture project has grown into something much bigger. In July of 2023, they opened TC Castle, their first flagship in Itaewon. A homecoming, a flagship in the same streets that raised them, for a brand that's never forgotten where it came from. FW'25 Arrivals The Fall/Winter 2025 collection keeps that same energy. Bold construction, rebellious design, and the kind of hardware detailing Thug Club's known for. This season brings outerwear, distressed finishes, and pieces that anchor your whole fit—not just fill it out. From graphic-heavy tops to carefully crafted denim, FW'25 leans into colder weather without losing any edge. Thug Club FW'25 is available now at FEATURE.
Seoul's underground has a way of producing brands that build worlds. Thug Club is one of those brands. Started in 2018 by Min (better known as Thug Min) and Kwon, who was brought on as Design Director in 2021, the label emerged in Itaewon—a neighborhood that has been Seoul's cultural crossroads since the 1950s.
Rooted in Itaewon's Rebel DNA
Itaewon is a living archive of Seoul's countercultures. American military presence brought jazz clubs and dive bars that clashed with Korea's conservative social fabric. By the '90s and 2000s, the district became a sanctuary for Seoul's LGBTQ+ community, then a breeding ground for hip-hop, graffiti, and street fashion. It's always been where the outsiders gather.
Thug Club was born directly from that energy. Min and Kwon weren't creating fashion in a vacuum—they were responding to the sounds coming out of basement clubs, the crews mobbing through the alleys on bikes, and the creative freedom that only exists in spaces like Itaewon. The brand captures that specific Seoul underground ethos: rebellious but thoughtful, loud but intentional, global in influence but local in spirit.
The THUG Philosophy
The name demands explanation, and Min and Kwon don't shy away from it. In hip-hop culture, "thug" has always been complex—a word weaponized against specific communities, then reclaimed as a badge of authenticity and defiance. For Thug Club, the word carries similar weight.
It's about rejecting polite fashion. Refusing to soften your edges for acceptability. Wearing your truth without apology, even and especially when it makes people uncomfortable. Min has said the brand exists for people who've been told they're "too much" and chose to be more anyway.
That philosophy shows up in the clothes: oversized silhouettes that take up space, aggressive hardware that demands attention, distressed finishes that reject pristine perfection. They built the brand on hip-hop's liberating energy and the aesthetic of motorcycle culture, the freedom of the open road, the mechanical precision, the outsider brotherhood. It's fashion for people who grew up feeling like outsiders and decided that was their superpower.
What started as a counter-culture project has grown into something much bigger. In July of 2023, they opened TC Castle, their first flagship in Itaewon. A homecoming, a flagship in the same streets that raised them, for a brand that's never forgotten where it came from.
FW'25 Arrivals
The Fall/Winter 2025 collection keeps that same energy. Bold construction, rebellious design, and the kind of hardware detailing Thug Club's known for. This season brings outerwear, distressed finishes, and pieces that anchor your whole fit—not just fill it out.
From graphic-heavy tops to carefully crafted denim, FW'25 leans into colder weather without losing any edge.
Thug Club FW'25 is available now at FEATURE.
