Who are you calling A Bathing Ape?
So how many of you out there have heard of the clothing label called A Bathing Ape…chances are if you haven’t been locked in a dark room for the past 5 years or so you would have heard of the company….perhaps if I say the name BAPE you will click a lil easier.
A Bathing Ape, or BAPE for short, has been a funky underground mainstay since its creator Nagao Tomoaki (affectionately known as Nigo) first released BAPE to the underground Japanese market at parties and DJ shows back in the early 90’s.
Back then if you wanted to buy some awesome BAPE merchandise you would have to hunt high and low down the alleys of Harajuku in Tokyo.
Eventually A Bathing Ape was released in its first store front window in the Harajuku shop called Busy Workshop.
A Bathing Ape clothing has become hugely popular all over the world in the last 5 years.
Fuelled by hip hop scene celebrities like Lil Wayne, Jay-Z and Pharrell William.
A Bathing Ape has crashed through the rather selective funky community of its roots and has burst onto the world scene…to a point many will say has become “ultra commercial”.
After the Japanese had become obsessed and incorporated BAPE into their local funk culture, the rest of the world opened up their eyes and started to take real notice of the amazingly colourful designs that BAPE had become renowned for in the East.
