A BATHING APE (BAPE)
A BATHING APE, KNOWN AS BAPE, IS A JAPANESE STREETWEAR BRAND
A Bathing Ape, also known ad BAPE, is a pioneer brand of streetwear, one of the first brands on the scene that has created a real lifestyle. It was created in 1993, founded by Nigo, real name Tamaoki Nagao, who grew up with the passion for the pop world and for subcultures. DJ, drummer and member of the hip hop group Teriyaki Boys, he studied design at the Bunka Fashion College where he met Jun Takahasi. The two founded the Undercover brand and opened Nowhere, a small boutique in the area of Harajuku.
In 1993 Nigo decided to found A Bathing Ape, choosing a Japanese idiom used to describe the overindulgence of young people, An ape bathing in warm water. The name, in addition to the laziness of young people, recalls Nigo’s passion for the movie Planet of the Apes.
Initially the brand, also due to a limited budget, only produced a few articles. This initial imposition turned into a winning strategy. Fiftly articles per week, half ot them was sold in the shops, the other half was distributed among the creatives of the scene. In this way, BAPE was able to create a link between exclusivity and inclusiveness, producing articles to satisfy only 10% of the demand and marketing its products in a few exclusive stores.
THE SUCCESS OF A BATHING APE (BAPE)
The world of rap turned out to be fundamental for the spread of the brand, which from Japan has reached the great world audience. Also the meeting with Pharrell Williams was fundamental, with whom Nigo collaborated for two clothing lines, Billionaire Boys Club & Ice Cream. There were also other important collaborations with Notorious B.I.G, Kanye West (who redesigned the BAPESTA sneakers in 2007) and Soujlia Boy who in the song Crank Dat said “I got me some Bathin’Ape” contributing to the spread of the myth. So, once the United States were reached, stores were opened in New York in 2005 and in Los Angeles in 2006.
However, after the golden age that BAPE lived from the late nineties to the early 2000s, the crisis arrived. In 2010 the parent company of the NOWHERE Co brand had accumulated debts for an amount equal to 22.5 million dollars, and the founder Nigo resigned, leaving his role as CEO (he then founded Human Made and became creative director at Uniqlo, and in 2021 he became the creative director of Kenzo). The following year, A Bathing Ape was purchased by IT Ltd, a Hong Kong fashion conglomerate, for 2.8 million dollars.
In recent years, the brand that has written a piece of history in the streetwear world is back in the limelight. Hoodies with zippers, BAPESTA sneakers, the baby Milo avatar and the camouflage print (known as Cloud Camo) continue to be sought after and generate hype.
