Anti Social Social Club is a streetwear brand founded in 2015 by Andrew Buenaflor, who is also known as “Neek Lurk.” The brand comes from Los Angeles and gets its name from the fact that the product was first launched on social media before you could buy it online. Lurk himself sees Anti Social Social Club as an outlet for his mental illness and depression, which he had at the time of its founding.

Stars such as Kanye West, Future and Travis Scott have worn ASSC's articles and thus made them famous. The trademark is the Wave font, which can be found on almost every piece of the brand.

To get to know the brand better, you have to take a closer look at the founder's story. With connections to the sneaker store Undefeated and his previous work as a social media marketing manager at Stüssy in Las Vegas, he has had the perfect basis for a functioning streetwear brand.

Lurk was born in the Bronx and studied business administration in Las Vegas. He spent most of his time on the Internet and thus also spent time on the Nike Talk forums.

Thanks to his particular style and the nature of his posts, he was able to quickly build up a fan base and create a basis for his later blog “Where's Neek”.

On his photo blog, Lurk documented his feelings and fears over a long period of time, expressing his depression. According to his own statements, the trigger for the founding of Anti Social Social Club was a failed relationship in 2014. He then designed a cap with the words “I miss you” on the front and the later well-known ASSC logo over his right ear.

As Neek Lurk explained in an interview, he never really intended to design more clothing until Kim Kardashian was spotted wearing his cap and demand exploded. Thanks to her ex-husband Kanye West, the brand had already reached the forefront of streetwear in 2015 and competed with hype brands such as Supreme and Bape.

Neek Lurk is a master of guerrilla marketing and was already very familiar with social media in 2016, so he designs exactly what meets the spirit of the times. He explained in an interview that he doesn't think twice when he comes up with something. He is quick with his decisions and quick with his designs and always reacts immediately to what is currently trending on the World Wide Web. These rapid and fluctuating decisions are also an expression of his illness, which seem to be well received in society.

On his collection, you could read sayings such as “Mind Games” or “Stay weird.” His designs are different and that's what his community likes.

Even though, like many other streetwear brands, these are actually just shirts that are printed with graphics, they sell out after just a few minutes. The collections include T-shirts, hoodies, jackets, hats, caps as well as lifestyle items such as ashtrays, scissors, fans and bedding.

In 2016, you could visit the brand's first pop-up stores in Los Angeles, which were designed in Lurk's typical eccentric style. With the increasing popularity and the associated orders, there has been more and more criticism of ASSC. Customers were increasingly complaining on social media about the undelivered goods. The brand's reputation in the streetwear industry was getting worse, but the founder also took this issue with humor and designed a shirt in 2018 with the words “Eye Hate Neek.” Despite all criticism, Anti Social Social Club continues to be successful and regularly releases collections with more than 100 pieces.

Thanks to the enormous success, the brand has already been able to collaborate with many other companies. Including Rimowa, Dover Street Market, Playboy, Hello Kitty, Hot Wheels, Fragment Design, Jollibee, DHL, Formula 1, Cactus Plant Flea Market, FaZe Clan, USPS, NEIGHBORHOOD, Goodsmile Racing, Panda Express, PlayStation's Gran Turismo 7, Modernica, Ed Hardy, Honda, BEAMS, Comme des Garçons, BTS, RSVP Gallery, Nike, Martha Stewart, Canes, Undefeated and mastermind JAPAN.

The pieces all stand out due to large, eye-catching prints, bright colors and the typical logo and are therefore unmistakable. When it comes to sneakers, Lurk worked with Dover Street Market and Vans in 2017, dropping the Vault Sk8-Hi and Vault Authentic. The latter appeared in the color white and with a pink sole. On this, you could read the words “Get Weird”, while the laces of the two models were marked with the words “Expect the Unexpected”, “Never You” and “Never Again.” The Sk8-Hi is black with a pink rubber sole, pink laces and stitching in the same color.

ASSC has already collaborated with the BAPE brand three times: in 2017, 2018 and 2020. The last collaboration produced a collection that combined the typical BAPE camo pattern and the large ASSC lettering. The articles appeared in brown, pink and a mix of different shades of blue and did justice to the eccentricity of Anti Social Social Club.

The open and spontaneous nature of the founder of ASSC sets the brand apart. The brand is polarizing and that is also what Lurk wanted to achieve.