Bape / Bathing Ape History

A Bathing Ape (often called simply Bape) is a Japanese clothing company that specializes in urban streetwear. It originated out of the Harajuku area of Shibuya in Tokyo and is one of the very first Japanese streetwear brands to start in the early 1990s. Bape��s logo and themes are all derived from the original Planet of the Apes movies. Bape is known for its shrewd marketing, particularly the use of very limited production runs in order to stoke demand for its product. A Bathing Ape also produces limited-edition hip-hop-themed vinyl figures.

Bape is so popular in Japan that Nigo, its creator, was commissioned to design a limited edition Pepsi bottle. Due to the popularity increases quickly in all over the world, Nigo has designed shoes (Bape Sta, Manhunt), tee-shirts (Baby Milo & Bathing Ape), Jeans, Boxers, and even Candies.

Despite Bape��s relative obscurity in the West, its success has afforded 32-year-old Nigo a Lamborghini, an Aston Martin, a Bentley Continental Mulliner Edition, a Ferrari 360 Modena and a home valued at $30 million. The clothes are also worn by Pharrell Williams of hip hop production duo the Neptunes.

Nigo likes to set up his stores in hard to find places, and none of them are marked with signs or store logos of any kind. He even admits that he doesn��t want a lot of people to wear his clothing. Exclusive retailers of Bape (called Busy Work Shops) are rumored to have a one-person, one-item policy where a customer can walk out with only one item of his/her size.

The Bathing Ape Bapesta Ape Force is essentially a high-price knockoff of the Nike Air Force 1, except priced even higher in most cases. There is a lot of speculation to whether Bape is just a fad or destined to be a long-standing popular brand. Only time will tell. There are now Bape versions of Adidas, Jacob & Co. watches, and Busy Work Shops worldwide, so the trend seems to be stable at least for the time being.

The Japanese have definitely made an impact on pop culture all over the planet. Even the newest fashion trends of today are often rooted to having strong Japanese influences. You can see this through the phenomenon of Anime, and all the crazy and kooky characters that Japanese culture has to offer. One of the most talked about trends in the fashion industry today is Bape, or A Bathing Ape. And yes, you've guessed it, it is Japanese in origin. If you want to know a little history behind this popular brand, then read on.

The founder of Bape, or A Bathing Ape, is Nigo Nagao, who worked as a DJ in Tokyo. He had a flair for designing, and was also a huge fan of the 1960's classic film, Planet of the Apes, which actually became his inspiration for his design. There was also a Japanese expression which translates into English as "ape bathing in lukewarm water". This meant that someone was overindulging in something, hence A Bathing Ape was born, now also known as Bape.

After Nagao designed his apparel, he needed a great place to sell them. Where else would be the perfect spot but in the Harajuku district of Tokyo, popular worldwide because of the trendy young styles and crazy fashion fads? Here Nagao opened his shop named, "Nowhere" in April of 1993. This store was the very first in the world to retail the famous Bape shoes, bags, shirts, jackets, hoodies, shorts, and more. The main character of the Bape brand was Milo, and you can see his face in all the tags of Bape apparel for both men and women. In Japan, there are currently 18 stores selling A Bathing Ape clothing.

A few years later, the hip fashion designs of Nagao infiltrated outside of Japan, and soon stores in Asia, Europe, and North America exclusively for A Bathing Ape were opened. The other cities where you can buy fresh and original Bape clothing are: Taipei, Hong Kong, Paris, London, New York, and Los Angeles. Bape became so popular because it was able to integrate some of the characters that nearly everybody is familiar with, like Hello Kitty, Spongebob, Batman, Superman, and more.

Today, A Bathing Ape is known beyond the fashion items and accessories. There is already a Bape Caf��, Bape Records, Bape Hair Salon, as well as Bape Kids, which is a Japanese line for children, featuring Baby Milo, the animated counterpart. There are also a lot of A-list celebrities wearing Nigo Nagao's Bape products, most of them from the hip hop industry. Examples of Bape aficionados are Pharrell, Omarion, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Soulja Boy, plus many others.

However, popular as A Bathing Ape may seem, it is important for the public to be mindful of the spread of many imitation Bapes in the market. Before you go and make your purchase, examine the items carefully, as there are specific markers to look for to determine if something is an original Bape or not.