NIGO®’s new London BAPE Store

The quietly considered A Bathing Ape mogul is laughing and talking though the glints of his diamond grills with his translator Toby Feltwell, perched upon a BAPE Camo stool in the brand new BAPE Store in London’s Soho. The modest self-made multi-millionaire and Japanese streetwear icon is relaxed and affable - despite the gaggle of fans outside - after celebrating the successful (it’s been 16 years since BAPE was conceived, and the opening day still saw queues snake past Golden Square) launch of his new boutique with musical muse Pharrell Williams. After the Krispy Kremes are offered around we get down to business.

Dazed Digital: You’ve kept the original London location, but what’s with the change of store names?
NIGO®: Busy Work Shops are being changed to BAPE Stores to re-group the BAPE brand. In terms of the interior, I always liked how the London store looked, so I didn’t want to change too much, just have it function better. I’m really pleased to be able to keep this space as it was the first one I opened overseas. It’s a bit like the original Prada store in Milan and how they still have that. It feels like the energy is always here in London.  

DD: Let’s talk about the Teriyaki Boyz who dropped a new album this year, Serious Japanese.
NIGO®: The Teriyaki Boyz (Ilmari, Ryo-Z, Verbal, Wise) were very much my creation, I wanted to work with a certain formula, I wanted a rule that the producer would always be from overseas (Daft Punk, Just Blaze, Pharrell), the rapping would be in Japanese, I wanted to do the artwork for the album and create the sets for the stage shows. I wanted to produce the totality of it. I feel that hip hop is one musical form where the producer has a lot of power, that’s always attracted me, it’s quite close to the way I work with clothes.

DD: Apart from hip hop and 50’s rockabilly, what else are you listening too?
NIGO®: The music you mentioned really doesn’t change - rockabilly and hip hop. Recently I have been listening to a lot of old Who albums. But generally I maintain the same music I’ve always listened to.

DD: How about the new URSUS BAPE line, the collaboration with Tetsu Nishiyama of WTAPS?
NIGO®: We stock it here. I’m pleased that everybody knows who Tets is! Tets is one of the few people left from the guys that started at the beginning. A lot of people have faded out of the scene, but with Tets we still talk every day.

DD: Is the longevity of BAPE and Tets due to maintaining the original design ethos of the label, with WTAPS it’s the military-inspired designs?
NIGO®: I agree. We don’t follow trends. It always starts with the idea - let’s make something we want to make.

DD: Are there new Japanese designers that you’re inspired by?
NIGO®: Not really. I’m a little bit worried that there aren’t that many new names coming up.

DD: I remember rumours of a BAPE hotel and even BAPE airline...
NIGO®: (Laughs) I’m still thinking about it....

DD: How about your personal collections of art, furniture, luxury goods?
NIGO®: I’m actually going through a process of looking back and trimming down my collections. It just got to be too much stuff, it was getting quite unwieldy.

DD: It seems the perfect time to re-group with the world doing the same thing?
NIGO®: (Laughs) I didn’t really think about it being timely, it was really just that my storage is totally maxed out, so I have to make some room.

DD: What’s next for BAPE?
NIGO®: There’s a Chrome Hearts (LA-based lifestyle and jewellery label) collaboration coming. I’ll probably opening more stores in Asia next year, and I’m doing a suit line that I’ve been working on for the past year that will be available at United Arrows store in Japan called Mr A Bathing Ape.

A BATHING APE® is at 4 Upper James Street, Soho, London W1.