Complex Blog » A Bathing Ape

A History of Absurd BAPE-Branded Products

Bradley — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:03:42 +0000

You can give it to Louis Vuitton for inventing the “bag-of-the-month club,” but no one keeps the unnecessary product flow moving like A Bathing Ape. This week, the brand’s latest set of pins drops, adding to over a decade worth of Bape-branded ridiculous-ness. You got to give it to Nigo for creating the whole idea of making any and everything limited edition, even a set of stickers. Whatever it is, buy it now, ’cause you can bet it won’t be available next week.

Read on below for a history of Nigo/A Bathing Ape’s most ridiculously awesome limited edition crap. If you bought any of this stuff, you probably felt super-cool at the time, but when you saw the next shit you kind of wished you had your $300-$1M back. Shucks…

2005: THE BAPE CARD
• The BAPE brand is like the strip club. There’s always another tier, and someone always has product that you don’t. The Bapex card debuted as a way for “special members” to log A Bathing Ape purchases and cash in with points, the same way one would with an Amex. Just like an Amex, you had to pay for your Bapex, and you had to pay blindly, with no idea what the special offers were going to be. Oh, the mystery.

2005-2006: “BAPE CAPE” CONDOMS
• If you find a chick who thinks Bapecamo condoms are awesome, hold on tight. Seriously. Pull this out of your safe, put it on, and hold on tight.

2006: BAPE X DISNEY WINNIE THE POOH DOLL
• Hopefully this has a different consumer base than the Bape condoms, but with the kids these days doing what they do, who knows.

2006: BAPE ECSTASY
• These, of course, weren’t official, but definitely made your night when that blond-haired Harajuku chick you met during the day slipped them to you in the back of some dark Japanese club.

2006-2007: BAPE PEPSI
• If you close your eyes and think really hard, you can taste the cool in every little bubble.

2007: A BATHING APE TOILET PAPER
• Each New Year’s, card-carrying Bape members can show their membership Bapex and get the year’s new roll of Bape toilet paper with every purchase at the flagship stores. Make that shit last!

2008: BAPE BATH MAT
• If you’re so steezed out that you get out of the shower onto branded product, hit us with an email. We’ve got an internship spot open for you.

2009: BAPE TOOTHBRUSH
• Coming soon! Nigo recently snapped these and posted them to the Internet. The top two are rumored to be 24K gold. F. O. H.

Daily Style & Design News: December 19, 2008

donniek — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:47:34 +0000

Zenvo ST1 is the newest over-the-top supercar from Danish boutique automaker Zenvo Automotive. Whether or not you’re rich enough to get your hands on one of the 15 in production, check out further details on this Scandinavian whip of art. [WIRED]

This is a PSA for all you Bape worshippers: Your recently-married savior, Nigo, is now an official Honeyee blogger. Empty as of yet, but watch this space (and learn how to read Japanese). [Honeyee]

We get mad when we see garbage collabos, but when two of our favorite brands (Supreme and Visvim) take it to the lab, we can't ignore the superb results. [Slam x Hype]

The folks at Football Shirt Blog held a contest for readers to design the new Nike kit for the Polish national soccer team, and the results are in. [Design Football]

Don’t sleep on Ubiq thun. [High Snobiety]

Start off your holidays with a Pepsi Pop-Up event tomorrow afternoon in Soho NYC. See the flyer after the jump.

Nigo Talks About His Love Life And Nike Criticism

Joe — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:54:19 +0000

It’s been 15 years since Japanese fashion mastermind Nigo started a streetwear label called BAPE. Back before there was Hypebeast or multi-block lineups for hoodies, Nigo called in a favor and borrowed 4 million yen to set up shop in Harajuku, Tokyo. A decade and a half later, and everyone’s familiar with his gaudy jewelry, flashy hoodies and relationships with trend-setters like Pharrell and Kanye. But how does the brand’s head-honcho really feel?

With the special 15th anniversary commemorative BAPE book coming out this month, we caught up with Nigo for a rare interview. In our November 2008 “My Complex” column, he speaks on his love life, how he feels about Lil Wayne wearing his clothes, blogs, and the constant criticism that A Bathing Ape does Nike take-offs. Check out the five contradictions from Mr. Nagao below…

As Told To: Joe La Puma

#1: “We used to sell to something like 40 different stores in Japan… But around 1998, I decided to just cut back to our one store in Tokyo. It didn't take long until the sales from one store were as good as when we sold throughout the country. That made me realize that this was something bigger than I had imagined.”

#2: “I don't think our clothes are so expensive; we make things in a very similar system to high-fashion designers… But we are interested in casual clothes. People get our jeans, tees and sweats confused with mass-produced consumer items. We respect the spirit of what we want to do over financial considerations'that's consistent with our motto, I think.”

#3: “I sort of fell out of touch with hip-hop… But the thing that got me enthusiastic about it again in the late '90s was the South, especially Cash Money. So, Lil Wayne wearing the clothes I had made was amazing. I am very pleased if he is known for wearing Bape.”

#4: “I have a girlfriend, and we have been together for about three years. She is a well-known actress in Japan [Riho Makise], and people are aware of the relationship… But she has her own career, and I don't want to interfere in that. So, there is a conscious decision to avoid being seen together in public too often.”

#5: “I never read blogs. So, I don't even hear the criticism about us doing Nike take-offs. I'd like to say that other brands doing Bape knockoffs shows that the brand is recognized and desired… But in reality, it's really annoying to have to deal with it.”

A Bathing Ape Book Chronicles 15 Year History

Joe — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:32:23 +0000

It's been 15 years since Japanese street fashion label A Bathing Ape chin-checked cool guys who thought they'd seen and worn everything. The brand still generates unmatched blog buzz with everything from key chains to varsity jackets, but now the first official chronicle of the company is coming to bookstores.

Aptly titled A Bathing Ape, the 368-page book takes a look back at Bape's design history, through pictures of products like G-Shocks, all over printed hoodies, and sneakers, along with the celebrities like Kanye West, Pharrell and T.I who wear them. The book will be distributed by Rizzoli International Publications and will retail for $60.00 in November. Check some preview pages after the jump.

Inside The Opening Of BAPE’s First L.A. Store

bfred — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:58:25 +0000

Photo: Arnold Turner/WireImage

The sign on the building said “Go Ape,” and that's exactly what the city of West Hollywood did last night (April 23) at the Grand Opening of A Bathing Ape’s first West Coast retail location. The Japanese streetwear store, which opens to the public tomorrow (April 25), was host to some of the biggest names in hip-hop yesterday with Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Rick Ross and Jermaine Dupri all stopping by. But it wasn't just a night for rap, as the event was also highlighted by the appearances of Tennis star Serena Williams, actress Dania Ramirez (X-Men 3, Heroes), actor Jonah Hill, rocker Pete Wentz, soon-to-be drafted NBA player Kevin Love (UCLA) and even Iron Mike Tyson. See some more photos from the event after the jump.

[Click on an image to view full size]

Photos by Arnold Turner/WireImage and Tim “Styles” Sanchez

BAPE x Nintendo DS Lite Hits Japan

bfred — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:30:59 +0000

We don’t quite get the limited-edition craze in the video game world these days, with all the branded Xbox 360s, PSPs and the like. Assuming you already own one of these consoles, are you really gonna shell out for another just because of a pretty graphic? The novelty has to wear out pretty quick. Unless you’re the type to cop something like this…*shaking head*.

All that said, we briefly suspend our cynicism to big up the new A Bathing Ape x Nintendo DS Lite collab, which officially dropped in Tokyo on April 1. Four reasons: (1) BAPE has been so universally shunned by cool guys that itÃ’s actually almost (almost) cool again. It’s the circle of life. (2) Japan-only. Suckas! (3) We own a DS, and even we would cop this. Shoot, DS could do a double collab with Halliburton and Exxon and we might cop it. DS rules. (4) The design isn’t bad. Sure, the white one looks like a regular DS with stickers on it, but the gold one is top-notch. Good luck on eBay with that one, folks. Check out a few more shots after the jump.

[Click on an image to view full size]

[Wired]

Nigo Apes A Bugatti

complex — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 17:55:08 +0000

Japanese streetwear brand Bathing Ape takes the all over print obnoxiousness up another notch with the release of this vinyl wrapped and very pink Bugatti Veyron. This one hurts since this car is one of the fastest and coolest cars on the planet and the Bathing Pink all over camo is by no means complimentary to this otherwise sleek and super sexy designed land rocket. Congratulations Nigo, you may have just designed the world's first Halloween outfit for a car.