The man behind A Bathing Ape

Starting from scratch at his hometown of Maebashi Japan, Tomoaki Nagao's or Nigo's involvement with the fashion industry came out of his personal desire for clothes that were cool in a way he was only able to see. Clothes that he and some his close friends could not find anywhere. That desire was the driving force behind the creation of his urban fashion line known as A Bathing Ape or BAPE, a common Japanese expression for “bathing in lukewarm water”, a term describing the comfy and well-off lifestyle of today’s youngsters in Tokyo . Evolving to a fashion student, magazine stylist and a DJ in 90s Tokyo Nigo started in a small store selling a few Bape t-shirts and camouflage print hoodies, which quickly became very popular and were selling like hot cakes at parties and DJ shows as well. The main theme and idea for his shirts was based on the 1968 sci-fi classic movie Planet of the Apes. The shirts were produced only in limited numbers and the street credibility that came along with them was beyond any competition at the time. What made A Bathing Ape succesfull in a very short period of time was the brand's philosophy of keeping a fine balance between being exclusive but also going for bigger markets. Although the brand's logo and camo patterns have appeared on everything from action figures and trucker hats to condoms and Pepsi bottles, the core fashion lines still come in tightly controlled production runs and are sold almost exclusively in Bathing Ape's own hard-to-find, frequently unmarked stores. Nigo's clothes and accessories have been popular among some of the West's coolest celebrities, ranging from New York City graffiti artist Futura 2000 to British electronica artist James Lavelle to hip hop legends the Beastie Boys. The twenty five outlets, a hair salon, a café, a members-only store in Hong Kong, a boutique in London and New York are the undisputed witness that the ape heads have dominated not only the densely populated streets of Tokyo, but also Europe and the US. Except A Bathing Ape and some other clothing lines he's been involved with such as Ice Cream and Billionaire Boys Club working alongside with Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D, Nigo plays an active part in the music business as well being the DJ of the Japanese hip hop group Teriyaki Boyz and also the owner of BAPE sounds record label