Bape’s gear has consisted of loud prints, camo, and the creation of the Milo character. What most people don’t know is that the founder, Nigo, is an avid collector of vintage Americana. Nowness follows the designer as he hunts down vintage styles to pull inspiration for his new vintage based label Human Made. Here are a couple excerpts:
Archival selection
Generally, I’m only interested in things up until 1950. It’s hard to explain how I select pieces. From a vintage-history viewpoint it’s a weird selection, but it’s just the things that speak to me most.
Collector’s eye
There are a lot of fakes around at the moment; things with complicated embroidery are often faked. It’s difficult to tell a real one from a fake one. You have to have seen hundreds of examples, and after a while your eye gets used to it.
Visit the Nowness website for the full interview.
[nowness]
