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Share with us... Your Best & Worst Collections of Haute Couture F/W 2025.26
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Bape clothing
- Thread starter sienne
- Start date
We don't generally talk too much here about streetwear, but my view of BAPE is that it is overpriced and garish, with unflattering cuts, and an overall low quality. I don't mind paying a high price for a garment that is superlative, but an $80 tshirt that is made of the same cotton as an $8 shirt you'd get from walmart, only with a BAPE label, doesn't do it for me.
In terms of style, I don't really see that it does much except for blend together various themes in Japanese streetwear that were already present before Nigo came along. While I suppose that one could give him credit for blending these things together and making a lot of money from it, I don't really see that it is a brand that has an "aesthetic" as much as it simply has a brand name that young people think is "cool."
Not only that, but in my experience living in Japan, I've found that BAPE is actually quite "old hat." In other words, I think it is perhaps more popular here now than in Japan, where it has been replaced by better (and more talented) designers like Undercover, Whereabouts, DressCamp, Number (n)ine, just to name a few. I think of BAPE as a fad that came and went, but Americans just have been slow to see it.
John
In terms of style, I don't really see that it does much except for blend together various themes in Japanese streetwear that were already present before Nigo came along. While I suppose that one could give him credit for blending these things together and making a lot of money from it, I don't really see that it is a brand that has an "aesthetic" as much as it simply has a brand name that young people think is "cool."
Not only that, but in my experience living in Japan, I've found that BAPE is actually quite "old hat." In other words, I think it is perhaps more popular here now than in Japan, where it has been replaced by better (and more talented) designers like Undercover, Whereabouts, DressCamp, Number (n)ine, just to name a few. I think of BAPE as a fad that came and went, but Americans just have been slow to see it.
John
maybe you could focus your story also on the BAPE sneaker angle.
great story here about sneaker fiends incl. bape
http://thephoenix.com/article_ektid4326.aspx
i have never even seen it anywhere.
great story here about sneaker fiends incl. bape
http://thephoenix.com/article_ektid4326.aspx
i have never even seen it anywhere.
...ApertureRomance
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Nigo made it that way though.
Fade to Black
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Bape is an excellent exercise in marketing and preying on consumer psychology...that's all there is to it. Slap the clothes on the backs of Pharrell, Jay-Z, and other such media icons, propose a super limited product philosophy and the desirability becomes increased where people camp out for some $300 cotton zip-up hoodie with a cartoon print on it. Nigo has mastered the art of positioning and segmentation. He started infilitrating the American market with hip hop it seems, but now he's moving into Hollywood...
to give Bape some credit though, i think their sneakers are fresh to death.
to give Bape some credit though, i think their sneakers are fresh to death.
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Point taken, softgrey! 
It is true that you can't see what isn't there, but one COULD see bape even before there were bape stores in the US. There were some places where one could buy items online and, at least amongst streetwear lovers, it was not completely unknown (I remember, well before i moved to Japan, some of my college friends at Chicago talking about it... at the time I had no idea what it was). Nevertheless, my main point was only that America's fascination with it coincided with its waning interest and popularity in Japan (my opinion, anyway).
John
It is true that you can't see what isn't there, but one COULD see bape even before there were bape stores in the US. There were some places where one could buy items online and, at least amongst streetwear lovers, it was not completely unknown (I remember, well before i moved to Japan, some of my college friends at Chicago talking about it... at the time I had no idea what it was). Nevertheless, my main point was only that America's fascination with it coincided with its waning interest and popularity in Japan (my opinion, anyway).
John
softgrey
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probably true...
i think that is probably because as interest waned in japan...
the 'powers that be' started to seek out a new market for the product...
hiring pr firms, collaborating w/hip hop stars, etc to promote the brand in the US...
smart marketing...
i think that is probably because as interest waned in japan...
the 'powers that be' started to seek out a new market for the product...
hiring pr firms, collaborating w/hip hop stars, etc to promote the brand in the US...
smart marketing...
softgrey
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on another note..
i was at a trade show and i saw some kid in the pharell jeans that he is doing now..
the picture on the pocket looks a lot like the BAPE logo...
he also had on the bape snkrs adn the pharell for LV sunglasses...
can you say VICTIM...?!?!!...
B)...
...
i was at a trade show and i saw some kid in the pharell jeans that he is doing now..
the picture on the pocket looks a lot like the BAPE logo...
he also had on the bape snkrs adn the pharell for LV sunglasses...
can you say VICTIM...?!?!!...
B)...
...dizzytacks
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i got some new bape shows, red green and white they should come next week, i think it is huge i was in japan 2.5 years ago and all my friends love it,, there were line ups outside the store in the morning on a normal staurday(i guess kids were off of school) but anyway "lineups".
new_dawn_fades
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well.. i think they suck... thats just me.. the sneakers are AF1 ripoffs to start off with..cough cough very original.. congrats to nigo for making billions..off mundane youth. supreme kinda sucks too(fabric&materials etc)....but not as much as bape..atleast they come up with nicer and more original ideas for their graphics...and collabrate with better artists..eg. peter saville.(i loved that collab) but yes. they did some shoes a while ago(heads should know) that were pretty cool..and i think for simple clean and fresh sneakers..ALIFE does a great job. apart from that i thik the whole sneaker/fashion hype thing stinks...
fade_to_black hit the spot, BAPE is perhaps one of the best examples of how good marketing can compensate for subpar products and make you millions.
Seriously, it's all in the hype, nothing more. Much unlike actual designerwear (say, yohji yamamoto or jun takahashi of the undercover fame), all this ish on Bathing Apes, Nike SBs, absurdly lucrative collabs like Nike and Undefeated or whatever else have you, none of them have much if any construct value, that is to say, in terms of material, design and what not, the value is nil (a pair of lim. ed. $500 sb's are still made in china).
I see it as a process of random color and/or pattern combinations that are hyped up beyond belief through forums, magazines, or whatever else venue the pr guys can get their hands on, then released in limited quantities and from then on it's a hit or miss. if it's a hit (and it usually is, even if the sneaker itself is ugly as hell), they'll make a killing off the sneaker. if not, well, they'll try again because the next time would probably be a hit.
though nonetheless, i may be saying all this, but really I'm a sucker for the scene myself. Haha, i still end up buying into all the hype anyway so... i don't know, I would say I am a victim to this madness.
If you guys want to see live advertising, just look at the japanese rap group, Teriyaki Boys (courtesy of Bape sounds). They even have their own Rolls Royce Phantom decked out in a bathing ape camo paint job. Now THAT'S gaudy!
Seriously, it's all in the hype, nothing more. Much unlike actual designerwear (say, yohji yamamoto or jun takahashi of the undercover fame), all this ish on Bathing Apes, Nike SBs, absurdly lucrative collabs like Nike and Undefeated or whatever else have you, none of them have much if any construct value, that is to say, in terms of material, design and what not, the value is nil (a pair of lim. ed. $500 sb's are still made in china).
I see it as a process of random color and/or pattern combinations that are hyped up beyond belief through forums, magazines, or whatever else venue the pr guys can get their hands on, then released in limited quantities and from then on it's a hit or miss. if it's a hit (and it usually is, even if the sneaker itself is ugly as hell), they'll make a killing off the sneaker. if not, well, they'll try again because the next time would probably be a hit.
though nonetheless, i may be saying all this, but really I'm a sucker for the scene myself. Haha, i still end up buying into all the hype anyway so... i don't know, I would say I am a victim to this madness.
If you guys want to see live advertising, just look at the japanese rap group, Teriyaki Boys (courtesy of Bape sounds). They even have their own Rolls Royce Phantom decked out in a bathing ape camo paint job. Now THAT'S gaudy!
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Honey~Blade
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Actually when BAPE started out with the camo it was pretty cool. I wasn't ever interested in much street wear before but alot of stuff BAPE put out was interesting and amusing at the same time. As the years dragged out, it just got overplayed and most of the graphics on the tees and hoodies were pretty lame and too repetitive, no innovation.
Now alot of the stuff I see, are just different color variations...
But anyway Nigo's a billionaire these days so I guess he doesn't give a damn about it all too much.
Now alot of the stuff I see, are just different color variations...
But anyway Nigo's a billionaire these days so I guess he doesn't give a damn about it all too much.
susie_bubble
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I really *cringe* when I see guys in HK flocking to buy Bape like their life depended on it. Come to think of it, HK guys flock to Hideout (the only place that stocks Bape in London) to get their Bape fix too - the multi-coloured camoflaged hoodies are PARTICUARLY irritating.
I remember when the NikexBape sneakers (multicoloured patent) were all the rage and every guy was wearing them! I just wanted to shake these ppl and say 'Why are you all dressed exactly the same?????' It just irks me when EVERYONE falls for the marketing/PR ploys. It's a pity because some of the designs are pretty decent but when EVERY god-forsaken person is wearing them and worse still are wearing cheap knock-offs, it just turns me right off!
I remember when the NikexBape sneakers (multicoloured patent) were all the rage and every guy was wearing them! I just wanted to shake these ppl and say 'Why are you all dressed exactly the same?????' It just irks me when EVERYONE falls for the marketing/PR ploys. It's a pity because some of the designs are pretty decent but when EVERY god-forsaken person is wearing them and worse still are wearing cheap knock-offs, it just turns me right off!
new_dawn_fades
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lets face reality here..bape sucks..period! teriyaki boys lol..thats it. i cant take it anymore..lmao.
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Djavanjmiles
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I've never heard of this company till beyonce had some high bape's custom made for her video. Does anyone have any picture's of some of the product's being discussed?
softgrey said:on another note..
i was at a trade show and i saw some kid in the pharell jeans that he is doing now..
the picture on the pocket looks a lot like the BAPE logo...
he also had on the bape snkrs adn the pharell for LV sunglasses...
can you say VICTIM...?!?!!...
B)...
Can't beat this. 2 Kids were on a tour over at parsons. Both had matching white multicolored bathing ape hoodies, bathing ape tshirt, bathing ape jeans, bathing ape shoes and bathing ape camo backpacks. Both of them, same exact pieces head to toe.
I cringed at the thought they would be going into design.
