Planet of a Bathing Ape

Ten years ago, a fresh-from-fashion-college part-time magazine editor with grand aspira-tions opened a small Harajuku store-front and quietly began taking over the (urban fashion) world.

His slyly named “Busy Workshop” was to become the launching pad for the now highly successful brand “A Bathing Ape”— or BAPE (pronounced ‘baypee’) for those
cool enough to abbreviate. Nigo, the brand’s reclusive creator, has officially achieved icon status in and out said fashion world, due as much to his mastery of the tricky combination of street cred, ultra cool associations and savvy marketing as to his own versatility, tastes and talents.

The brand idea came about from Nigo’s fixation with the 1968 film “The Planet of the Apes", and the first t-shirts were emblazoned with, well, apes of course.

Current wear features a variety of imprints , including the memorable phrase “Ape Shall Not Kill Ape”
(As it turns out, the Japanese idea from which the phrase “a bathing ape", is translated is meant as a fairly blatant condemnation of the complacency of modern Japanese youth. Question: if complacency includes blindly following accepted parameters of hipness, does that mean irony, as well as youth, is wasted on the young?).

Digressions aside, the company’s meti-culous attention to quality -sturdy stitching, quality fabric, detailed, clever and often hidden brand placement- combined with the risky marketing ploy of making an extremely limited supply of each item, has perfectly tapped into the universal desire of youth to self-express by attaining the (seemingly) unattainable, or at the very least, the exclu-sive.

You can’t get much more exclusive than “Nowhere, Ltd” which is the actual name of Nigo’s hard-to-find storefront locations, where they regularly sell out of all manner of t-shirts, jackets, sneakers, belts and even rolls of tape. The exclusivity factor of the company’s policy is taken very seriously. Patrons are only allowed 1 piece of any product and can only purchase their own size (apparently to prevent the propagation of knock-offs).

In case you’re curious, BAPE T-shirts can run in the ¥6,000~¥15,000 range, scarves over ¥7,000 and jackets in the ¥30,000~ ¥50,000. Accessories offer no more mercy
on one's pocketbook — Ape action figures start at around ¥2500 and bags quickly close in on ¥20000, for example. Unsurprisingly, BAPE items in London and New York are even pricier and more elusive than here in Japan. At the relatively new Hong Kong Store, patrons must have an appointment merely to be admitted.

The enigmatic Nigo has successfully parlayed BAPE’s success and his own notori-ety into other ventures. His CD projects have allowed him to work with well respected and established artists from a range of genres.

"Ape Sounds" (Ape Sounds/Mo Wax Records), released in the fall of 2000, was a well-received and hard-to-categorize collabo-ration with artists such as Lavelle, DJ Kudo, Money Mark, Ben Lee, Cornelius, and Takagi Ken.

The cleverly packaged debut has been described as “a self-consciously cool mix of punk, trip hop and knowing adult pop.” More recently, “Shadow of the Ape Sounds (2001)” includes collaborative work and remixes with hip hop artists such as GZA, Rakim, Biz Markie and the Beatnuts.

Tokyo’s underground son has now officially crossed over into the western hipness zone, as attested to by his clothing’s appearance on the likes of Pharell, Jay-Z and the Beastie Boys, among others. Famous Japanese converts include Kimura Takuya of SMAP
and popular producer/artist Cornelius.

While purists may argue whether Nigo is truly a designer — someone for whom functionality is a prime directive- or merely
a stylist with a well-honed marketing sense, there is no doubt about the impact the BAPE brand has made on youth fashion and culture. “'A Bathing Ape' is not only a streetwear label,” says Hong Kong pop culture writer Kit Chan. “Its camouflage print is to kids what Louis Vuitton's monogram pattern is to the ladies who lunch. It is a religion,” he says.

For Nigo it is a religion whose rewards, needn’t wait until the afterlife. At 32, Nigo owns a Lamborghini, an Aston Martin, a Bentley Continental Mulliner Edition, a Ferrari 360 Modena and a 30-million dollar home. His company now has 25 outlets (including
a London boutique) a BAPE cafe and gallery, a BAPE Cuts hair salon (insert witty line here), and a TV show (2-hours on the last Sunday of every month, on ‘Space Showers’).

And when a corporate giant like Pepsi Co. contracts you to design a limited edition BAPE/Pepsi camouflaged can, it’s safe to say things are lovely. Still restless for greater goals, Nigo now has his sights on owning his own Tokyo hotel. Hopefully, his customers will be able to find it.

For Osaka Bathing Ape outlet info, visit http://www.wonder-wall.com/space/

Text: H.W.J.