KAWS and BAPE: NIGO, Japanese Streetwear, and Asia Icons

KAWS and BAPE: NIGO, Japanese Streetwear, and Asia Icons

KAWS and BAPE share one of the clearest documented links between a U.S. artist and Japanese streetwear. Brian Donnelly, known as KAWS, worked with NIGO on A Bathing Ape capsules from the early 2000s after Japan ties that began in the late 1990s. This guide maps those Asia connections for U.S. shoppers.

Cover photo: Zlatko — KAWS At This Time, Hamilton Princess, Bermuda — CC0 1.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Cropped/resized; EXIF-corrected for upright cover.

The story is not only BAPE. It also runs through Bounty Hunter toys, Jun Takahashi’s UNDERCOVER, Medicom Toy and OriginalFake in Aoyama, Uniqlo UT, HUMAN MADE, and large Japan shows. For Harajuku context, see our pieces on Hiroshi Fujiwara and fragment design and what BAPE is.

Who Is KAWS?

KAWS is the professional name of Brian Donnelly. Wikipedia and SFMOMA place his birth in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1974. SFMOMA says he chose the letters because he liked how they looked, began as a graffiti artist in the mid-1990s around Jersey City and New York, and studied illustration at the School of Visual Arts. Wikipedia dates his SVA BFA to 1996.

SFMOMA frames his practice across painting, sculpture, product design, and fashion. Its collaboration name-check includes A Bathing Ape, Supreme, Uniqlo, and Nike. This article stays on the Asia streetwear and culture links rather than a full museum biography.

Japan 1997, Bounty Hunter, and Companion

A Christie’s lot essay quotes KAWS on his first Japan trip in 1997 and an offer to make a limited-edition toy with Bounty Hunter, the cult Japanese toy company. He compared those small runs of about 500 pieces to artist editions he already respected. That visit is the usual starting point for his Japan network.

SFMOMA dates COMPANION, his first vinyl toy, to 1999 with Bounty Hunter. A Phillips lot for COMPANION (Brown) describes a 1999 Bounty Hunter production from an edition of 500, stamped with a 1999 mark. The X-eyed figure became the character most shoppers still recognize on later apparel and public sculptures.

UNDERCOVER and Jun Takahashi

Before the big BAPE sneakers, KAWS already sat next to another Ura-Harajuku name. Artsy and the KAWS TOO poster archive describe a 1999 series of offset lithographs made for UNDERCOVER’s Spring/Summer 2000 collection. That puts Jun Takahashi in the early Japan chapter alongside the toy work.

Clutter Magazine later reported a 2009 UNDERCOVER × KAWS vinyl: an Undercover bear hugging a Companion figure, in black and off-white, released August 28, 2009. Archive fashion writing also notes early-2000s UNDERCOVER garments that used KAWS graphics. Keep that as a high-level print link, not a full lookbook catalog.

NIGO, BAPE Capsules, and Mid-2000s Sneakers

In a 2016 Complex interview, NIGO said he and KAWS had been working together in some form since 1997, including several BAPE capsule collections. That lines up with the Japan visit year and with NIGO’s later role translating KAWS graphics into products.

Grailed dates the first KAWS × BAPE clothing capsule to 2001: a limited graphic T-shirt and an ape-head pillow with X eyes after NIGO reached out. Wikipedia likewise dates the BAPE partnership from 2001. WWD in 2006 already treated “Ape” and UNDERCOVER as established Japanese collaborators and noted KAWS art on the walls at Bape Cafe in Harajuku.

By 2005 the link was on sneakers. Hypebeast covered BAPE × KAWS “Bendy Camo” footwear earlier that year and the June 2005 Ultra Skull Sta / Skull Bone Sta shelltoes, plus later polka-dot Bapesta coverage. Treat mid-2005 as the clear sneaker chapter rather than inventing every colorway. For the full BAPE brand timeline, read our BAPE explainer.

Medicom Toy, BE@RBRICK, and OriginalFake

WWD reported that KAWS opened OriginalFake in Aoyama in May 2006 as a venture with Medicom Toy, the Japanese figure maker behind BE@RBRICK. Wonderwall’s Masamichi Katayama designed the interior. WWD says KAWS’s first Medicom toys dated to 2002, and that the shop sold apparel, prints, and BE@RBRICK figures, with a roughly 10-foot Companion at the entrance on Minami Aoyama.

SFMOMA and Wikipedia say the Tokyo store and brand ran from 2006 to 2013. Hypebeast covered the closure in mid-2013 after Medicom and KAWS wound the project down. OriginalFake is the clearest brick-and-mortar proof that KAWS’s Asia story was not only drop culture; it was a Tokyo retail base next to Medicom’s toy system.

Uniqlo UT and KAWS TOKYO FIRST

After NIGO left BAPE and took on Uniqlo’s UT graphic line, the KAWS relationship moved to a mass scale. Complex’s 2016 interview covers a March UT drop of 12 men’s T-shirts with KAWS gloves, X marks, and Companion art. NIGO said KAWS liked making some pieces people could actually buy, while the artworks themselves stayed rare.

In 2021 the Japan museum chapter arrived. Highsnobiety calls KAWS TOKYO FIRST at Mori Arts Center Gallery (July 16–October 11, 2021) the first large-scale showcase of his work in Japan, with more than 150 works and a title borrowed from a 2001 Japan show. Exhibition merch partners included Uniqlo UT and Medicom Toy; UP TO DATE dates the national UT release to July 30, 2021 after an exhibition pre-sale.

HUMAN MADE and Later NIGO Projects

NIGO’s post-BAPE brand kept the friendship going. HUMAN MADE Inc. announced a July 23, 2021 online drop of five KAWS T-shirts that used HUMAN MADE graphics. Highsnobiety and Hypebeast covered further Human Made × KAWS capsules later in 2021. Soft context only: NIGO founded HUMAN MADE in 2010; the deeper BBC and Human Made brand story sits in our separate NIGO × Pharrell draft when that piece is live.

Optional collecting note: Wikipedia records that Nigo-commissioned painting The KAWS Album (2005) sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong on April 1, 2019 for about US$14.7 million. That is an auction footnote, not the center of the streetwear story.

Asia Shows Beyond the Shop Floor

Shoppers who know Companion from toys also met the figure outdoors. Time Out Tokyo, Hypebeast, and the South China Morning Post covered KAWS:HOLIDAY Japan in July 2019, with a giant Companion at Fumotoppara Camping Ground near Mount Fuji. SCMP places Japan after earlier HOLIDAY stops in Seoul, Taipei, and Hong Kong. Wikipedia and CNN Style also note large Companion and BFF sculptures installed in Changsha, China, in May 2018. Keep those as public-art markers, not a full exhibition calendar.

Why This Matters for Asian Streetwear Shoppers

If you follow Asian streetwear from the U.S., the KAWS map explains why the same X eyes show up next to BAPE camo, UNDERCOVER bears, Medicom shelves, Uniqlo racks, and HUMAN MADE hearts. Japan gave him early toy partners and Harajuku collaborators. NIGO turned that trust into BAPE capsules, UT tees, and later Human Made drops. Medicom and OriginalFake made the figure culture retail-real in Aoyama.

For more context, read the Asian Streetwear Guide and What Is Streetwear? 15 Streetwear Outfit Ideas.

FAQ

What is the KAWS BAPE connection?

NIGO told Complex they had worked together since 1997, including BAPE capsules. Grailed and Wikipedia date an early clothing capsule to 2001 (limited tee and ape-head pillow). Hypebeast covered BAPE × KAWS sneakers in 2005, including Skull Sta and Bapesta styles. WWD in 2006 already treated Ape as an established collaborator.

Who is KAWS?

KAWS is Brian Donnelly, born in Jersey City in 1974 and based in Brooklyn. SFMOMA describes a path from mid-1990s graffiti and School of Visual Arts illustration into painting, sculpture, toys, and fashion. Companion, his best-known character, began as a 1999 Bounty Hunter vinyl toy in Japan.

What is OriginalFake?

OriginalFake was KAWS’s Tokyo brand and store, opened in Aoyama in May 2006 with Medicom Toy and designed by Wonderwall. WWD reported apparel, prints, and BE@RBRICK toys on sale. SFMOMA and Hypebeast place the project’s end in 2013.

Did KAWS work with UNDERCOVER?

Yes. Artsy and KAWS TOO document 1999 posters for UNDERCOVER’s Spring/Summer 2000 collection. Clutter Magazine reported a 2009 Undercover bear and Companion vinyl figure. Archive fashion writing also notes early-2000s UNDERCOVER garments that used KAWS graphics.

What about Uniqlo UT and KAWS TOKYO FIRST?

Complex covered a March 2016 Uniqlo UT capsule of 12 men’s KAWS tees while NIGO directed UT. Highsnobiety dates KAWS TOKYO FIRST at Mori Arts Center Gallery to July 16–October 11, 2021, with Uniqlo UT and Medicom merch around the show.

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