In 1993, Japanese entrepreneur and fashion designer Tomoaki Nagao founded A Bathing Ape; or “Bape” as it is commonly called, by designing shirts and giving them away to celebrities. Since its opening, the A Bathing Ape clothing line has opened a rapid succession of stores across the country of Japan; Thirty-three in total, as well as stores in Europe (London), other Asian locations (Taiwan and Hong Kong), and the U.S. (New York). Like other modern fashion designers, such as Ecko Unlimited (The “World-Famous Rhino Brand”), A Bathing Ape focuses on hip-hop and urban fashion.
With a focus on streetwear clothing fashion, A Bathing Ape has recently teamed up with American hip-hop artists and rappers, launching clothes aimed at that sector of the fashion clothing market. Like other fashion designers, Nagao (or Nigo, as he’s nicknamed) designed polos, hoodies, t-shirts, jackits, denim, and shoes. To further reach his intended audience, the designer has also started getting involved in the actual music industry, with his own record label.
A Bathing Ape is quickly becoming a hot fashion item among young adults who want to imitate the style and fashion of their hip-hop idols. Clothing brands like Bape are quick to capitalize on this interest in the fashion industry.
Reviews of the Clothes:
The first thing that comes to mind when reviewing A Bathing Ape’s clothes is that it is very similar to brands like Ecko. If you are familiar with the latter brand, sold at many streetwear boutiques as well as mainstream department stores like Macy’s, then you are familiar with Bape.
The Shoes
A Bathing Ape is known for its shoes, which are very trendy and oddly unique (some might say they’re ugly). Fashion critics say the shoes mimic Nike’s Air Force Ones, which rapper Nelly sang about in his “Air Force Ones” hit music download. Bape’s shoes are limited, meaning not that many are made to ensure you are wearing something that will forever stand out. It is made of glossy leather and very bright, garish colors.
What I like about them is they’re easy to clean (glossy leather cleans and resists stains a lot better than other shoe material commonly found in athletic shoes and sneakers, such as suede or mesh). For example, one pair is bright green, yellow, dark blue, and white all mixed together. Another pair is bright red, yellow, blue, and white (reminds me Ronald McDonald from the McDonald fast-food franchise, which there are a lot of in Japan!).
If you want shoes that will make your feet pop out at people, and shoes that no one else has, then by all means jump for these outrageously colored footwear. You’ll pay a price for having limited edition shoes: $200 USD. However, with less than 200 pairs of each style, you’re getting VERY limited edition shoes. Non-limited edition Bape shoes begin at around $190 USD.
The Clothes
As I mentioned earlier, the fashion style of Bape is what you’d find in other products. Quite honestly, I don’t understand the fervor over this new brand except for the fact that it is still rather unique to America and therefore a wanted item. Once the market gets flooded with Bape merchandise, you’re bound to see the prices drop. The t-shirts are nothing special, either; what’s special about a shirt that says “APE SHALL NEVER KILL APE” or “A BATHING APE” on the front? Even worse, the colors are just as bright and annoying as the shoes, except covering even more bodyspace.
Conclusion
A Bathing Ape clothing line is unique, and definitely stands out. Honestly, it doesn’t look good. If you want extremely unique and limited-edition shoes, you can go for their footwear. The rest of Bape’s clothes are nothing to write home (or should I say, write to Japan) about.
How to Dress Gangsta
Do you want to emulate the style seen in music videos by rappers like 50 Cent, Ludacris and Sean Paul? You don’t want to join a gang, of course, and you definitely do not want to be shot in the chest (like rapper 50 cent was a couple years ago), but you still want to be cool and hardcore like them. With A Bathing Ape fashion, you can dress gangsta in a very trendy and fashionable way.
1. Wear Baggy Clothes
A Bathing Ape sells a lot of size XXL shirts and pants. Find out your size, then buy some clothes that is double or even triple your clothing measurements. Leave the skinny jeans and fitted t-shirts to the punk rockers and the metrosexuals. It doesn’t matter if your body dissapears in fifteen miles of woven cotton; you are cool now!
2. Choose Your Colors Wisely
Don’t wear pink unless you are gay. If you want to be cool like the rapper Nelly, you can’t go wrong with a white shirt (and remember, it has to be big). Wear your XXL white t-shirt from A Bathing Ape with some big cargo pants and white sneakers and you are good to go.
3. Listen to Gangsta Music
A Bathing Ape also has its own record label. Pick up some cool hip-hop beats, plug it into your iPod, and walk the streets like you own them. If you’re trying to be cool, leave the flashy iPod cases behind. If you’re hardcore, act hardcore and go caseless on the iPod. Real gangsta men do not use iPod cases. Real men probably don’t use iPods either, but no one likes carrying a boombox around on their shoulders these days. People are getting lazy. If you want to make a huge statement, find the biggest and heaviest boombox that’s out there and walk around with it on your shoulder. Remember to alternate shoulders, or else one shoulder will become very buff and muscular at the risk of making you look like some sort of hunchback. Unfortunately, A Bathing Ape does not sell boomboxes.
