| A Bathing Ape (or BAPE) is a Japanese clothing company founded
by Tomoaki "Nigo" Nagao in 1993. The company specializes
in urban and hip hop fashion, operating stores in Japan, including
BAPE, BAPE Store, Foot Soldier and the Bape Exclusive store
(located in Aoyama, Tokyo). The company also operates Bape Cuts
hair salon, Bape Café and gallery, Bape Sounds records.
There are also stores located in Hong Kong, London, New York,
Taipei and Los Angeles. Nigo also founded the women's clothing
lines "APEE", and "BAPY", the female "couture"
clothing line.
Nigo, founder and owner, cites his mother and father, who
were a nurse and a billboard maker respectively, as major
influences in the development of his character. Though because
they both worked, he spent a lot of time alone with toys.
He also credits DJ/Head Porter designer Hiroshi Fujiwara as
his business model. His nickname literally means "number
two" in Japanese; the MD of Astoarobot, the fashion store,
coined the moniker when he noted the physical resemblance
to Fujiwara. Nigo cites his early influences as Elvis, The
Beatles and hip-hop acts such as Run DMC and Woobens.
After studying fashion editing at college, he worked as an
editor and stylist for Popeye magazine. After borrowing four
million yen from an acquaintance, who also let him use his
shop, he opened "Nowhere", his first store, on April
1, 1993 in Harajuku, Tokyo. Deciding to start his own brand,
he named it after the 1968 film Planet of the Apes. According
to Nigo, the name "A Bathing Ape" is short for a
Japanese saying "bathing in lukewarm water". Japanese
people typically have daily baths in water over at temperatures
above 40 degrees celsius. As such, bathing in luke warm water
is to complacently over indulge. This is, ironically, a reference
to the lazy oppulence of the younger generation of Japanese,
the brand's own customers. To expose the brand he gave T-shirts
to the lead singer of Cornelius who wore them when performing.
For two years he produced 30 to 50 shirts a week, selling
half and giving half to friends. In 1997, Nigo released his
debut album 'Bape Sounds' under Mo'Wax, with DJ/Producer James
Lavelle of UNKLE. In January 2005, Nigo and Pharrell Williams
launched the first "Bathing Ape" store in New York.
The official name, according to the salespeople at the store,
is "Bathing Ape in Lukewarm Water." [5] Nigo is
also co-owner and head designer of Williams' Billionaire Boys
Club.[6] In 2006, Nigo and N-Kei Enzaki started a record company,
Ape Sounds, with help from James Lavelle, a UK DJ and owner
of the Mo' Wax label. He serves as a producer and director
for his CDs, blending Western hip-hop with Asian sounds.
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