What Is BAPE? NIGO, A Bathing Ape, and Harajuku Streetwear
What is BAPE? BAPE is short for A Bathing Ape, the Japanese streetwear label NIGO founded in Tokyo’s Ura-Harajuku in 1993. It grew from limited T-shirts at NOWHERE into a global name known for Ape Head graphics, camo, the Shark Hoodie, and Baby Milo. This guide covers the brand story for U.S. shoppers.
Cover photo: paranoidnotandroid / Flickr — Inside BAPE — CC BY 2.0. Also on Wikimedia Commons.
Who Is NIGO?
NIGO’s real name is Tomoaki Nagao. Business of Fashion says he was born in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, in 1970. He studied fashion editing at Tokyo’s Bunka Fashion College from 1989 to 1991, where BoF says he met classmate Jun Takahashi. Wikipedia and Highsnobiety note that after school he worked as an editor and stylist for Popeye magazine.
His nickname means “number two” in Japanese. Wikipedia links it to a physical resemblance to Hiroshi Fujiwara. GQ and Highsnobiety place NIGO in Fujiwara’s Ura-Harajuku circle. That relationship helps explain how BAPE grew next to GOODENOUGH, UNDERCOVER, and the NOWHERE shop rather than in isolation.
NOWHERE and the 1993 Founding
A Bathing Ape’s official 30th anniversary page states that BAPE was founded on April 1, 1993, as the original brand of NOWHERE, a store that opened in the back streets of Harajuku. BoF and Wikipedia agree that NIGO and Jun Takahashi co-founded the Ura-Harajuku boutique in April 1993. BoF adds that later that year NIGO founded A Bathing Ape from the store’s back room. Highsnobiety’s Fujiwara history also dates NOWHERE and UNDERCOVER to 1993.
Wikipedia, citing a CNN TalkAsia transcript, says NIGO borrowed four million yen from an acquaintance who also let him use a shop space for Nowhere. Official BAPE copy frames the idea as “NOWHERE, NOW HERE”: something here you will not find anywhere else. The same page says the project began as a small T-shirt collection and later spread into art, home items, toys, music, and more.
Name, Ape Head, and Early Scarcity
Wikipedia, Highsnobiety, and Hypebeast all tie the brand name to the 1968 film Planet of the Apes. According to NIGO, “BAPE” also nods to the Japanese phrase for “a bathing ape in lukewarm water,” an ironic jab at complacent overindulgence. Hypebeast says graphic designer Sk8thing (Shinichiro Nakamura) conceptualized the signature Ape Head motif and shaped early BAPE graphics. Highsnobiety likewise credits a Sk8thing collaboration at launch.
Early volume was tiny. Wikipedia reports that for two years NIGO produced about 30 to 50 shirts a week, selling half and giving half to friends, and that he promoted the line by giving shirts to Cornelius and Scha Dara Parr. Highsnobiety describes a similar early cap of around 50 T-shirts a week and links that scarcity to the brand’s later queue culture. Limited drops were a practical choice before they became a streetwear habit.
BAPE Camo, Baby Milo, Shark Hoodie, and Bapesta
Three years after founding, Hypebeast and Complex date BAPE’s 1st Camo to 1996. Hypebeast attributes that warped camouflage to designer MANKEY. Complex describes green and yellow 1st Camo with Ape Head shapes woven into the pattern, then broader colorways such as red, purple, and blue by 2004. Highsnobiety also calls the print “Cloud Camo” and treats it as one of the brand’s defining graphics.
Complex and Hypebeast say Baby Milo debuted in 1999. Complex reports that BAPE artist Mankey designed the character under NIGO’s direction, inspired by the baby chimpanzee Milo in Planet of the Apes. The mascot gave the line a playful graphic next to the harder camo and Ape Head marks.
Highsnobiety and Hypebeast date the Shark Hoodie to 2004. It is a full-zip hoodie with a shark-mouth graphic on the hood, drawn from military and aircraft nose art (Hypebeast cites Flying Tigers shark faces). Highsnobiety notes an original block-color body with a half-woodland-camo hood, plus “WGM” patches for “World Gone Mad.” BoF says NIGO introduced the BAPESTA sneaker in 2002; Highsnobiety and Hypebeast treat Bapesta as another early-2000s signature product.
From Harajuku to New York
By the mid-2000s BAPE had moved from a Harajuku secret into U.S. retail. The New York Times covered the first American A Bathing Ape store in SoHo on December 19, 2004, the day after it opened, describing crowds at the Greene Street shop. A WWD feature on the planned space placed it at 91 Greene Street. Highsnobiety groups New York and Los Angeles overseas flagships in the mid-2000s (its article says 2005 and 2006; for New York, prefer the Times December 2004 opening date).
Highsnobiety ties BAPE’s U.S. cultural rise to Pharrell Williams and hip-hop visibility. Wikipedia and BoF note NIGO’s role with Pharrell’s Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream labels. Press dates for that partnership differ (BoF says 2003; Highsnobiety says 2005), so treat it as a mid-2000s collaboration rather than a single pinned year. Official BAPE’s 2023 anniversary page lists stores across the U.S., Asia, Europe, and Dubai; treat that as evidence of international retail, not a live store census.
Sale to I.T and NIGO’s Exit
On the business side, WWD reported in February 2011 that Hong Kong retailer I.T Ltd. bought 90 percent of Nowhere Co. for 230 million Japanese yen, about $2.8 million at then exchange rates. BoF and Wikipedia cite a roughly 90.27 percent stake for about the same dollar figure. Wikipedia dates the announcement to February 1, 2011.
WWD says NIGO agreed to stay as creative director for an initial two years. A later WWD piece covers his 2013 departure after that contract period; BoF likewise dates his step-down from BAPE to 2013. After the sale, A Bathing Ape continued under I.T ownership.T or BAPE.
Human Made and What Came Next
NIGO did not stop designing. The official Human Made About page says he founded the Tokyo lifestyle brand HUMAN MADE in 2010 around the idea “The Future Is In The Past,” with vintage and historical style as a starting point. In a Dazed interview he said the project began in the second half of 2010 and let him make pieces he could not make at BAPE. Highsnobiety frames Human Made as a vintage workwear-leaning turn after the bright BAPE years.
BoF and Highsnobiety say that in 2013 he became creative director of Uniqlo’s UT graphic T-shirt line. BoF also notes that in September 2021 LVMH appointed him artistic director of Kenzo, with a debut runway in January 2022. Those later roles sit outside BAPE’s day-to-day story, but they show how the same Harajuku designer kept working after leaving the ape logo behind.
Why BAPE Still Matters for Asian Streetwear Shoppers
If you shop Asian streetwear in the U.S., BAPE’s timeline explains a lot of what you still see: loud logos, camo as a fashion print, mascot graphics, limited early drops, and Harajuku shops that later became global flags. NOWHERE linked NIGO to Jun Takahashi and the wider Ura-Harajuku network. Camo, Shark Hoodie, and Baby Milo turned that shop culture into readable symbols.
FAQ
What is BAPE?
BAPE is the short name for A Bathing Ape, a Japanese streetwear brand founded by NIGO in Ura-Harajuku in 1993. Official BAPE materials date founding to April 1, 1993, with the NOWHERE shop. The brand is known for Ape Head graphics, camo prints, Baby Milo, the Shark Hoodie, and Bapesta sneakers. It was sold to Hong Kong’s I.T Group in 2011.
Who is NIGO?
NIGO is the designer Tomoaki Nagao. BoF says he was born in Maebashi, Gunma, in 1970, studied at Bunka Fashion College, and co-founded NOWHERE with Jun Takahashi before launching A Bathing Ape. His nickname means “number two,” linked in press to Hiroshi Fujiwara. After leaving BAPE in 2013 he focused on Human Made and other projects.
When was A Bathing Ape founded?
Official BAPE copy and major press place founding in 1993. The brand’s 30th anniversary page specifies April 1, 1993, as the founding date tied to NOWHERE in Harajuku’s back streets. BoF says NIGO founded the label later that same year from the shop’s back room. Wikipedia also lists 1993 in Ura-Harajuku.
What is the BAPE Shark Hoodie?
Highsnobiety and Hypebeast date the Shark Hoodie to 2004. It is a full-zip hoodie with a shark-mouth graphic on the hood, inspired by military and aircraft nose art. Highsnobiety describes an early block-color body with a half-woodland-camo hood and “WGM” patches for “World Gone Mad.” Later versions used BAPE Camo and other brand motifs.
What is Baby Milo?
Baby Milo is BAPE’s cartoon monkey mascot. Complex and Hypebeast date the debut to 1999. Complex says artist Mankey designed Milo under NIGO’s direction, inspired by the baby chimpanzee in Planet of the Apes. The character appears on T-shirts, hoodies, and lifestyle goods and sits beside camo and Ape Head as a core graphic.