Bape × Nigo

Tomoaki Nagao, better known as NIGO, started A Bathing Ape in 1993 with friend and collaborator SK8THING. The same year, he opened the wildly influential NOWHERE store alongside Undercover's Jun Takahashi. An integral part of Tokyo's music, fashion and lifestyle scene, NIGO brought BAPE to unprecedented heights, crossing over the US, partially thanks to his friendship with influential people like Kanye West and Pharrell Williams, with whom he would also work on Billionaire Boys Club and Louis Vuitton at a later stage.

NIGO led A Bathing Ape until 2009, when he sold his majority shares and subsequently started Human Made. Some BAPE fans still see the NIGO x BAPE period as the height of the brand, with many pieces from that period reselling for extremely high prices. Standouts from the BAPE x NIGO era come from the countless classic collabs, including those with KAWS and Pharrell Williams.