Fashion is all about names. Everyone knows the ones that have been around for yonks – Armani, say, or Lagerfeld. The man sitting opposite me might not be quite there but, to some, he's just as famous. Nigo is the founder of A Bathing Ape. Streetwear nerds – men who wear limited-edition trainers and oversized slogan T-shirts and make their living designing style magazines – worship him. As far as this particular faction of fashion goes, I'm in the presence of royalty.
For everyone else, here's the cribsheet. The Tokyo-based label began in 1993, was named in homage to Nigo's favourite film, Planet of the Apes and is shortened to "Bape". The look was T-shirts, hoodies and caps with prints of apes in various cartoon guises. Stockists were hard to find and customers were only permitted to buy pieces in limited numbers. Growing through word of mouth, it became a global brand that collaborated with Pharrell Williams – his clothing line Billionaire Boys Clubwas designed in partnership with Nigo. In Japan, there was a Bape ice-cream parlour and a barber's shop; a record label was launched, and there were stores in London and New York.
So Nigo's is not a household name, then, but one worshipped within a certain milieu. Bape is in deep with hip-hop – and its fans. Along with Williams, Kanye West was drenched in the label before he discovered high fashion, and Tyler the Creator still wears it. Their groupies follow suit – hence the regular queues outside Bape stores worldwide. It's paid off – Nigo is sometimes cited as the richest designer in Japan.
May 2013, though, he walked away – in a year when Bape had operating profits of £4.25m. He made the announcement in a typically obtuse way. Posted on his blog (hard to find in itself) was a custom-drawn image by graffiti artist Kaws: a "Bart Simpson" burying a statue of Nigo. "Bape General Nigo (1993-2013)", it read.Nigo, real name Tomoaki Nagao, is now the general – or creative director, anyway – of something else: Uniqlo's UT line, the T-shirt arm of the Japanese high-street brand. The shirts, in store now, feature familiar brands: Peanuts and Snoopy, Batman and Duff Beer from The Simpsons. It's an aesthetic that continues Nigo's trademark graphic, cartoon look. The difference is that it's now available for the masses.
Nigo has changed post-Bape. He was once dwarfed by grills in his mouth, a baseball cap, a Jacob the Jeweller diamond medallion and oversized skate-shaped clothes, but now he has ditched the bling. The 42-year-old wears a trim army-green blazer and jeans. His right wrist is in the kind of brace RSI sufferers use. It doesn't look as if it is there as a style statement. The badges of cool are no longer so obvious as in his streetwear days. Instead, his look is about function.
Softly spoken and talking through an interpretor, the designer is as understated in his answers. "I thought I could be useful," he says, when asked why working with UT appealed. The ability to work on a mass scale was also a factor. "It was about the global reach of the company," he says. "UT is streetwear, effectively. It's what people really wear on the street. It's interesting for me to be able to influence that."
Having expanded in the past decade, Uniqlo's profits were £1.89bn in the first nine months of 2013 and it now has over 500 stores outside Japan. Most of that profit might come from sales of HeatTech and cashmere jumpers but, as a working environment, it's a long way from Bape's beginnings, when it made 30 T-shirts at a time and sold them for £70 a pop. Uniqlo's red-and-white logo is becoming as familiar as Gap's navy square and Marks & Spencer's black and green. A UT T-shirt is priced at less than a tenner.
Streetwear as a sphere has changed. Traditionally, it was the slogan-heavy delinquent cousin of tailored menswear, but now the lines are blurring. Much to the chagrin of purists, brands such as Supreme, Palace and Hood by Air are worn as much by the front row as they are by the skate community. Designers including Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci are turning streetwear shapes such as the basketball vest into four-figure luxury buys. "When I first started out," says Nigo, "it was almost shocking that the fashion world would pay any attention to street clothing. Now that's normal, so repeating the same approach seems uninteresting, I think." He's moved on.
Nigo plays down the cool factor that comes with this kind of instinct but it's obvious to everyone else. To say that Uniqlo jumped at the chance to work with him would be an understatement. Yuki Katsuta, head of research and design, is like a football manager who has just signed a star striker. "He has a huge knowledge and experience of pop culture," he says, in raptures. "We believe with [Nigo] that we can move Uniqlo upscale, in a cool way."
This new Nigo is shedding all the bells and whistles of Bape. You get the impression this more low-key incarnation suits him. Asked about his future, he answers with a shy smile. "This is not a one-season thing," says the interpretor translating his answer. "It's not a collaboration. It's my new job." -guardian.co.uk
For everyone else, here's the cribsheet. The Tokyo-based label began in 1993, was named in homage to Nigo's favourite film, Planet of the Apes and is shortened to "Bape". The look was T-shirts, hoodies and caps with prints of apes in various cartoon guises. Stockists were hard to find and customers were only permitted to buy pieces in limited numbers. Growing through word of mouth, it became a global brand that collaborated with Pharrell Williams – his clothing line Billionaire Boys Clubwas designed in partnership with Nigo. In Japan, there was a Bape ice-cream parlour and a barber's shop; a record label was launched, and there were stores in London and New York.
So Nigo's is not a household name, then, but one worshipped within a certain milieu. Bape is in deep with hip-hop – and its fans. Along with Williams, Kanye West was drenched in the label before he discovered high fashion, and Tyler the Creator still wears it. Their groupies follow suit – hence the regular queues outside Bape stores worldwide. It's paid off – Nigo is sometimes cited as the richest designer in Japan.
May 2013, though, he walked away – in a year when Bape had operating profits of £4.25m. He made the announcement in a typically obtuse way. Posted on his blog (hard to find in itself) was a custom-drawn image by graffiti artist Kaws: a "Bart Simpson" burying a statue of Nigo. "Bape General Nigo (1993-2013)", it read.Nigo, real name Tomoaki Nagao, is now the general – or creative director, anyway – of something else: Uniqlo's UT line, the T-shirt arm of the Japanese high-street brand. The shirts, in store now, feature familiar brands: Peanuts and Snoopy, Batman and Duff Beer from The Simpsons. It's an aesthetic that continues Nigo's trademark graphic, cartoon look. The difference is that it's now available for the masses.
Nigo has changed post-Bape. He was once dwarfed by grills in his mouth, a baseball cap, a Jacob the Jeweller diamond medallion and oversized skate-shaped clothes, but now he has ditched the bling. The 42-year-old wears a trim army-green blazer and jeans. His right wrist is in the kind of brace RSI sufferers use. It doesn't look as if it is there as a style statement. The badges of cool are no longer so obvious as in his streetwear days. Instead, his look is about function.
Softly spoken and talking through an interpretor, the designer is as understated in his answers. "I thought I could be useful," he says, when asked why working with UT appealed. The ability to work on a mass scale was also a factor. "It was about the global reach of the company," he says. "UT is streetwear, effectively. It's what people really wear on the street. It's interesting for me to be able to influence that."
Having expanded in the past decade, Uniqlo's profits were £1.89bn in the first nine months of 2013 and it now has over 500 stores outside Japan. Most of that profit might come from sales of HeatTech and cashmere jumpers but, as a working environment, it's a long way from Bape's beginnings, when it made 30 T-shirts at a time and sold them for £70 a pop. Uniqlo's red-and-white logo is becoming as familiar as Gap's navy square and Marks & Spencer's black and green. A UT T-shirt is priced at less than a tenner.
Streetwear as a sphere has changed. Traditionally, it was the slogan-heavy delinquent cousin of tailored menswear, but now the lines are blurring. Much to the chagrin of purists, brands such as Supreme, Palace and Hood by Air are worn as much by the front row as they are by the skate community. Designers including Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci are turning streetwear shapes such as the basketball vest into four-figure luxury buys. "When I first started out," says Nigo, "it was almost shocking that the fashion world would pay any attention to street clothing. Now that's normal, so repeating the same approach seems uninteresting, I think." He's moved on.
Nigo plays down the cool factor that comes with this kind of instinct but it's obvious to everyone else. To say that Uniqlo jumped at the chance to work with him would be an understatement. Yuki Katsuta, head of research and design, is like a football manager who has just signed a star striker. "He has a huge knowledge and experience of pop culture," he says, in raptures. "We believe with [Nigo] that we can move Uniqlo upscale, in a cool way."
This new Nigo is shedding all the bells and whistles of Bape. You get the impression this more low-key incarnation suits him. Asked about his future, he answers with a shy smile. "This is not a one-season thing," says the interpretor translating his answer. "It's not a collaboration. It's my new job." -guardian.co.uk
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. I don't doubt he amassed a fortune; with his ability to get away with such a shameless marketing ploy, who knows what else he's capable of! Yes, you gotta love the story^^
