Wednesday, 4 April 2018

Collaborations To Go BAPE For!


Ask any urban street styler what their favourite brand is and they will all most likely agree - it has to be BAPE, or by its full name A Bathing Ape. Since the label’s inception in the early 90s, BAPE has become an integral part of street culture due to its edgy, easily-recognizable style.

Ask Pharrell Williams, Jay-Z and Kanye West - just some of the famous faces who have worn this iconic brand over the years. In celebration of its iconic style, we take a look at some of BAPE’s most memorable collaborations over the years.


The Early Years

BAPE made its first collaboration, with Casio’s G-Shock no less, the pairing made style history. In fact, rumour has it that only 1000 pieces of the original design were ever made! They’ve made several collaborations from then on, including the DW-6900 last year. Then came a collaboration that would set the tone for all others: BAPE and Pepsi. In a first for soft drink companies, Pepsi teamed up with designer Nigo to create unique camo-covered soda cans. The duo even made history - to this day, it’s the least expensive item to come from BAPE. The BAPE/Pepsi cans were sold for only $1 from specially branded vending machines at BAPE flagship stores.

Icons of the Game


No list of epic BAPE collaborations would be complete without one of the most legendary duos of all time - BAPE and KAWS. In 2005, two of the most recognizable names in street culture teamed up to create the iconic “Chomper” Bapestas using KAWS’ famed artistic designs and Nigo’s love for extremely colorful palettes.

Or how about BAPE’s incredible capsule collection for Def Jam Recordings in 2015? To celebrate the company’s ten-year anniversary, BAPE worked along with Def Jam artists to create one-of-a-kind garments featuring a new grey, white and purple camouflage print.
Fast forward to 2017, and another instant classic collection was born. BAPE joined forces with Champion to create a capsule collection of spring/summer essentials all featuring that sought-after BAPE camouflage.

Adidas x Keith Haring x Fila
Among the upcoming collaborations is Adidas. According to a Supreme Leak new site it’s suppose to have the original Samba look, and while there’s only mockups available, anything that’s Adids x Bape is usually hyped. And then there’s the Keith Haring flight jacket which combines Haring’s well known characters and Nigos’ classic cameo pattern. And finally we have to mention the Fila who’s doing combined logos printed over tees, sweatshirts and pants. If you want more, Hypebeast is pretty solid when it comes to Bape news and most clothes can be found at China Haul.





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