Japanese fashion culture from the beginning
Ura-Harajuku is the general name for a number of clothing stores in the area from Jingu-mae in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, to Sendagaya in the same district. Most shops face the old Shibuya River. Going downhill from Harajuku Station on the JR Yamanote Line to Meiji Dori, there are many clothing stores that look like ordinary houses. Due to the narrow road, it is not easy for pedestrians to notice this area. It is different from the clothing store area in Harajuku, so it is called "Sato" Harajuku.
Features
There is not much difference between store clerks and customers. In addition, most of them don’t have obvious signboards, and shop assistants don’t actively promote products. There are many stores with multiple entrances and exits. This shopping atmosphere has attracted many young people in their 10s to 20s who do not like others to interfere when shopping, becoming the main customer base. The sales method is similar to the type of outlet mall that was introduced to Japan in the past decade, and has attracted attention in Japan.
Other similar areas
In Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, there is also a shopping area with young people as its main customer base, called "Ribo". The business format is similar to that of Harajuku. Since the original clothing stores have become saturated, some designers have turned to independent operations. From manufacturing and sales to the store's appearance, they all have the designer's personal style. The products launched will not follow the trends reported by the media, but will be based on the operators' own policies and concepts. Therefore, many business economists take this business method as their research goal.
Hiroshi Fujiwara, Japanese, fashion designer, music producer. Known as the Godfather of Harajuku by the public. Its leading brand GoodEnough (GE) has always been known for its limited edition products. It is often strongly recommended by trendy magazines, resulting in extremely high prices in Japan.
GoodEnough was established in 1990. It initially produced a very small amount, but it became very popular among young people.
Hiroshi Fujiwara often shows himself dressed in Good Enough, and his every word and deed attracts attention. It is obvious that no matter what he wears or what he hits, his influence is huge.
Around 1991, Hiroshi Fujiwara was introduced to Nigo, who looked very similar to him, in a store called "A Store Robot" in Harajuku. At that time, Fujiwara was passionate about DJ activities and was looking for helpers, and Nigo was just the person he was. They learned from each other and established a friendship. In addition to Nigo, Hiroshi Fujiwara also has close friendships with other Harajuku people, such as Undercover's Jun Takahashi. In the early years, they collaborated to launch the fashion brand "AFFA" Anarchy Forever Forever Anarchy, but unfortunately it has been discontinued.
In addition to GE, Head Porter is also produced by Hiroshi Fujiwara. Head Porter mainly makes bags. In fact, Porter bags were made as early as 1935 by Mr. Yoshida Yoshizo, who established the Yoshida leather manufacturing factory Yoshida & Co. Ltd in Kanda Town, Tokyo. In 1962, the Porter bag series was established, and the Tanker series is the most well-known. In recent years, Head Porter has been developed by Hiroshi Fujiwara. In fact, Head Porter is very similar to Porter in terms of materials and styles, but they are basically two brands. Head Porter often refers to the materials and styles of Porter and then entrusts Yoshida & Co. Ltd. to jointly produce them.
On September 14, 2000, Head Porter entered the United States and opened its first overseas branch in New York together with Stussy.
GE's specialty store "Ready Made" closed at the end of 2000, leaving only Head Porter Plus to continue operating, while GE moved its position to "Silas & Maria" in Daikanyama for sale. In 2001, Hiroshi Fujiwara revisited another brand from his early years, Electric Cottage, after GoodEnough, Finesse and More About Less. Electric Cottage was actually the name of his early private office, which contained many designers. Electric Cottage was produced in extremely small quantities and is not regularly available for sale and can also be found at .
In terms of music, Hiroshi Fujiwara has collaborated with Mo'wax and thus became a member of the Mo'wax family tree. He was also one of the founders of the early record Label Major Force. In July 2001, Fujiwara released the album "Undercover Flower" co-produced with K.U.D.O. In addition to his solo album, Hiroshi Fujiwara also composed soundtracks for movies.
Fujiwara works a lot, appearing in various magazines from time to time, doing interviews, working as a model, or writing articles. Men's Nonno has a must-read "a little knowledge" in every issue.
Hiroshi Fujiwara’s status as the godfather of fashion has remained strong for many years, and the popularity of brands such as Fragment design, Head Porter, and Burton iDiom designed by him continues to rise.
The collective recalled that Goodenough, which he operated 10 years ago, was the strongest brand in the past. The very representative MR.GOODMAN doll at that time was recently made by Goodenough again as a keyring retro, divided into metallic gold. Made of wood, black and yellow, it is believed to be a nostalgic work by Fujiwara believers. Japan's founder of the Rihara brand, Goodenough and Visvim***, the camouflage color series Christo produced by Fujiwara Hiroshi, are on the market, and Tokyo F.I.L. Gehan 40 feet are on the shelves. Goodenough has just launched a new Tee design in its Spring 08′ collection. Mainly black, white and yellow, the pattern uses a large neon G letter. The price is set at ￥7350.
Main deeds:
1990 Goodenough founded independently
1994 A.F.F.A. Co-founded with Takahashi Jun*** [Initially AFFA was all handmade]
1995 A.F.F.A. activities terminated
1995 Electric Cottage independently created
1997 A.F.F.A. was revived and terminated again in the same year
1997 Electric Cottage amp; Goodenough store Ready Made was opened
1998 HEAD PORTER independently created
1999 FINESSE independently created [Goodenough Tag used simultaneously]
2000 FINESSE activities terminated in the same year more about less independently created [succession] FINESSE ]
2000 Goodenough Ready Made independent specialty store closed
2001 hTm Hiroshi FUjiwara Tinker Hatfield Mark Parker
2001 HEAD PORTER PLUS independently founded and funded Nakamura Century in the same year Opened VisVim
2002 hTm Air Woven Boot was sold in HEAD PORTER PLUS store for the first time
2003 Electric Cottage activity was terminated in the same year Fragment was independently created [replaced Electric Cottage]
2003 Unrivaled ELT was created independently
2004 Levi's Fenom branch was born [Fragment Design team is responsible for the design] In the same year, Burton iDiom branch was born [Kuraishi Kazuki is responsible for the design]
2004 Resonate in the form of Goodenough line Created
2005 A.F.F.A. produced again for one season
2006 ResonateGoodenough merged to create originally 2-line Resonate and Goodenough merged
2006 Base Control Same as Shinsuke Takizawa*** Creation
Nigo While the two major Japanese fashion brands UNDER COVER and NUMBER(N)INE have successively moved their positions to develop abroad, Nigo, the mastermind of APE, has no intention of shifting positions or changing his style. I believe him He has his own opinions and opinions, but no matter what, the status of Street Fashion in Japan will never be shaken.
The founder of APE "NIGO" Nagao Tomaki
1970 In 2009, a boy named Tomaki Nagao was born in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, a place only 2 hours' drive from Tokyo, the heart of Asian cultural trends. When the 14-year-old Nagao accidentally got a book called " Popeye" magazine, he also began his flamboyant and luxurious fashion journey for the next 22 years. After entering high school, Chang Wei's appetite for fashion began to grow. While getting some odd job bounties and pocket money, Chang Wei Without telling his parents, Oo began to go to Yokocho in Ueno, Tokyo, to buy some records and clothes. This may have been his first physical contact with the trend. Like all young people in Japan at the time, he was obsessed with the PUNK aesthetic of Vivienne Westwood, and also exist
At this stage, the wheel of fate between him and Hiroshi Fujiwara, the godfather of Japanese fashion, began to turn. It is conceivable that if there was no Fujiwara column at that time and no Nagao's admiration for him, there would be no NIGO in the future, not to mention the current prosperity. BAPE...
After graduating from high school, Nagao went to Japan's famous Bunka Fashion Institute, majoring in editing. Living in the cultural heart of Tokyo made Nagao benefit a lot. Through the famous London Nite club , he met a group of music madmen such as Keigo Oyamada, and more importantly, it was here that he met his childhood idol, Hiroshi Fujiwara. Later, by chance, Nagao became Fujiwara's assistant. Later, people discovered that the two people looked very similar, so they began to call Nagao "Fujiwara Koji". The name gradually spread until eventually, it was shortened to "Second" - that is, Nigo Current title. During these days, TINY PANX, the duo of Hiroshi Fujiwara and End Takagi, is concentrating on managing the music label Major Force. At the same time, Nigo and his college classmates Jun Takahashi (the current mastermind of UnderCover) and Mitsuru Iwanaga (Bounty Hunter mastermind) founded the band Tokyo Sex Pistol. The three members of this punk band later became one of the top figures in the Japanese fashion industry, and jointly created a fashion marketing story.
After college, NIGO worked as an editor for his childhood favorite enlightenment magazine "Popeye" and another heavyweight magazine "Hotdog". At this time, Fujiwara Hiroshi and Takagi Wan worked in "TINY PANX" under the name The serialized column "Last Orgy" in "Takashima" magazine has become the bible of Tokyo subculture. As Fujiwara's assistant, NIGO also began to write a column for the newly founded "BOON" magazine and also served as a DJ. , art modeling, magazine model and other positions. Without any financial pressure, NIGO began quietly brewing the clothing brand NoWhere with Jun Takahashi. To this day, we can still find traces of NoWhere on some Bape Tee. At that time, The impact of the adventure-like experience on NIGO can be seen. What is dramatic is that NIGO and Takahashi later took over TINY PANX's column in "Treasure Island" and named the new column "Last Orgy 2".
On April Fool’s Day in 1993, NoWhere finally opened a physical store in Harajuku, the center of Asian street fashion (this is probably the reason why Bape’s Hong Kong store also chose to open on April Fool’s Day). , NoWhere only operated T-shirts related to apes, until one day, NIGO met Skatething, a godfather of Harajuku whose real name is Shinichiro Nakamura. Because Nakamura is low-key, we have not been able to find his photos so far. The two hit it off and started working A bathing ape in lukewater is a trendy brand that is in sharp contrast to the popularity of NIGO today. Bape's ape-man logo was actually created by Skatething over a week using silhouette inspiration. The reason for using ape-man is It was NIGO who was extremely addicted to the movie "Planet of the Apes". To this day, NIGO still likes to collect its posters, toys, figures and other peripherals. But NIGO later claimed that it also alluded to Tokyo's materially rich but spiritually shallow youth culture. Nigo The style of A Bathing Ape is also called Tokyo fashion. The birthplace of this fashion is Harajuku. Today, its status in Tokyo is equivalent to New York's Lower East Side.
In the first two years since BAPE was established, NIGO only operated it as a side business. Rather than saying it was business, it would be more appropriate to describe it as "playing". At that time, it basically only produced T-shirts, and one model was not enough. 50 pieces, either given to friends or given to shop assistants to wear. At that time, NIGO was still playing with his DJ machine comfortably, and was having a great time getting involved in Japan's newly enlightened hip-hop industry. Therefore, Bape's success is a miracle. , it didn’t have today’s overwhelming advertisements, and it didn’t have today’s malicious hype from resellers. It just relied on one-by-one word-of-mouth transmission among trendy young people to become a well-known leading brand today. What’s even more miraculous is that Kimura, a popular young boy who was very popular in Japan at that time Takuya accidentally wore Bape's short tee and was exposed in an advertisement. Afterwards, popular artists such as Tadanobu Asano, Saei Isshiki, and Ryoko Yonekura made Bape quickly become famous in Japan in a short period of time.
After gradually growing in size, NIGO's ambitions began to develop into sneakers, fashion, toys, pillows, accessories, children's clothing, furniture, and even cafes, hair salons, and concept galleries. Now Bape has an exclusive TV station and a rap group, and it has become a The trend of entertainment tycoons. NIGO, who is well-known and high-profile, has gradually begun to attract the attention of multinational companies. Pepsi, Adidas, Microsoft, MAC, Casio, and World Wrestling Entertainment are vying to cooperate with them. While this summer's World Cup is in full swing, NIGO lost no time in completing the cooperation with Japanese midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata. NIGO's business sense is innate, which can be seen from the two-year happy cooperation with KAWS, the leader of European and American graffiti. What is satisfied in the trend kingdom is not just simple national dominance, but the prosperity of Greater East Asia, and even global dominance. In order to achieve these goals, in Asia, he began to win over Hong Kong's trend promoter-Edison Chen, through him The influence of Bape has enabled Bape’s Busy work shop to successfully open in Hong Kong and gain unparalleled influence in the mainland. In North America, he has the support of heavyweight rapper Jay-Z, who has a good relationship with him, and then NIGO has also cooperated with the new generation power N.E.R.D frontman Pharrell Williams and REEBOK to complete the trendy brands equivalent to Bape puppets - Million Boys Club (BBC) and Icecream to expand the American market. Recently, it was reported that the cooperation was broken down. The reason is REEBOK wants to mass-produce, which is naturally inconsistent with NIGO’s concept of ultra-limited quantities.
When it comes to Bape, we have to mention NIGO’s business talent. Although Bape’s ambition is obvious, what we see in the end The Bape brand has always been shown to the public as a "rare breed". Its headquarters, the Nowhere co. building, is located in Sendagaya, west of the center of Tokyo. Although it is three stories high, it is inconspicuous. Bape The flagship store does not have a conspicuous signboard. However, the anti-marketing grammar of "Harajuku Specialty" that Bape adheres to has undoubtedly caused an amazing response around the world. Although there is a huge difference in design style from NIGO, Jun Takahashi seems to be In terms of marketing, he follows the same route. His Undercover brand, which he advertises as Hi-fashion, can only be found in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Paris, and can be described as a "rare treasure."
Among today's many alternative brands (such as AsFour circle, Martin Margiela, United Bamboo, Rogan, etc.), there are many ways to establish the best image by narrowing information and product sources. All of these are marketing examples of hipster fashion. .
After gaining both fame and fortune, Bape and NIGO seem to have entered a strange circle. There are fewer and fewer innovations in clothing styles, but more and more methods of hyping up prices. From diamond teeth to being sold by Bape green camo's spoof of Rolls-Royce and then NIGO's US$30 million mansion in Shibuya. NIGO seems to have completely stepped out of the low-key and out of the shadow of Hiroshi Fujiwara. Recently, there have been endless negative news about Bape and NIGO, and Fujiwara , Edison Chen's feud and Bape's endless use of the ape head logo and camo as the theme of clothing have become a flaw that people have criticized. Today's Bape seems to have entered an extremely overspeeding state, A bathing ape in lukewater is not so much a A cultural trendy brand is better said to be a money-printing machine. NIGO has also changed from a cultural trendy person who wrote columns before to a trendy ruffian exuding the smell of copper. But when people started to criticize Ape Man and NIGO, who knew? ? Perhaps when Bape and NIGO both disappear one day, we will feel their importance in our lives. Whether it is Bape that relies on word of mouth to establish its reputation, or Bape that has mixed reviews today, there is no doubt that NIGO and his apes have performed a perfect legendary live drama in the history of fashion.
Although NIGO failed to achieve "Trendy people don't fight trendy people", he did indeed achieve "Ape should never kill ape"...
Preface - Interview with a bating ape mastermind NIGO
NIGO, whose real name is Nagao Tomaki.
A BATHING APE brand was established in Harajuku, Tokyo in 1993.
Since the days of operating NOWHERE, it has been selling exquisite and limited edition original T-shirts. Its low-key and unique brand atmosphere has gradually attracted the attention of local fashionable youth.
With no conspicuous signboards or even advertisements, it was completely spread by word of mouth, creating an amazing subculture phenomenon in Harajuku.
Young people from all over Japan, in order to buy an original T-shirt, get up early on Sundays and holidays and queue up at the door before the store opens.
In flip shops, A BATHING APE's clothing is always sold at two or three times the original price.
Let those who failed to grab the last item in a regular store in time regret.
Many well-known artists in Japan, such as Kimura Takuya, Asano Tadanobu, PUFFY, UA, Isshiki Sae... and others, also appeared on TV wearing A BATHING APE clothing. Since then, the brand's popularity has officially exploded throughout Japan.
Currently, A BATHING APE has 25 branches of various types in Japan, ranging from coffee shops, toy stores, hair salons, to exhibition halls, and has gradually developed into a huge related enterprise.
It even has its own TV show, and holds various music events and even fighting skills competitions.
It can be said that as long as it can be related to A BATHING APE, it is almost always the target of fashionable people.
You will definitely see long queues.
In the past ten years, NIGO has been more actively communicating with well-known overseas units. On the one hand, it has introduced world-class street art units to Japan (Asia), and at the same time, it has spread original brands from Japan to the world.
At present, A BATHING APE's influence has spread all over the world. In addition to branches in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, it has been introduced by well-known stores in major cities around the world such as New York and Paris.
And it has become a trendy brand recognized by subcultures everywhere.
Its cross-industry cooperation with world-renowned brands is also constantly praised, such as Pepsi-Cola, ADIDAS, Microsoft... Every cooperation always generates a lot of topics.
Makes people wonder whether there is a limit to the growth of A BATHING APE?
Don’t forget that this is just a preface, there are too many things to tell you.
Please follow the footsteps of A BATHING APE. Through this rare in-depth interview, NIGO will tell you his past story and his next plan...
(The following interview is by MSN JAPAN)
MSN: What was NIGO like as a boy?
NIGO: I started reading magazines like POPEYE when I was in the sixth grade of elementary school, and I have always been interested in clothing.
He is a young man who does not study very seriously, but he does not become bad either.
MSN: Watching POPEYE in sixth grade is too precocious, right? (laughing)
NIGO: Well, it seems to be quite early.
Because I was very obsessed with the group THE CHECKERS at that time, I was somewhat influenced by it.
At the same time, I also like reading very much. In terms of clothing, I wear LEVI'S 501 and sneakers.
But it’s not to the point of fanaticism or obsession.
MSN: At that time, did you also like music?
NIGO: I started to like pop music when I was in the sixth grade of elementary school. I also started learning to play drums at that time because my father was very interested in playing drums.
There was no such thing as “karaoke” back then, so I just sang and played the drums by myself.
Later, my family also bought a complete set of drum equipment, so the more I played, the more enthusiastic I became.
But there was no such thing as forming a band.
When I arrived in junior high school, it was just when CD records first appeared.
At that time, I had a friend who was very obsessed with music. I would go to his house every day to listen to music, or go to a CD rental store to rent records to take home. This was probably the situation at that time.
For me, my interest in music really started after I entered high school.
When I was in high school, I listened to rock and country music.
Then HIPHOP music became popular, and I started to follow it.
It was probably my sophomore year in high school.
MSN: What made you fall in love with HIPHOP?
NIGO: Because of TINY PANX (Note).
I saw the columns of End Takagi and Hiroshi Fujiwara in a magazine.
I was influenced by them and then I bought a turntable myself.
At that time, in order to save money, I often skipped lunch and went to work to save money.
Then every week, without telling my parents, I went to Tokyo to buy records and clothes.
(Note) - TINY PANX - formed in 1986 by Fujiwara and Takagi, please refer to the Harajuku chronology on this site.
Hiroshi Fujiwara, known as the "Godfather of Ura-Harajuku", in addition to what everyone generally knows about him,
He was also the first person to introduce brands such as STUSSY to Japan. , and the first DJ in Japan to use SCRATCH technology.
MSN: Can you describe in detail how you were influenced by TINY PANX?
NIGO: At that time, Wan Takagi and Hiroshi Fujiwara were already very active in trendy magazines.
I have always taken them seriously as role models.
Then TINY PANX released a 12-inch record called "I LOV GOT THE GROOVE"
I like this record very much!
At that time, they also sang on TV night shows, and the HIPHOP music they played,
was really fashionable to me at the time.
How should I put it, TINY PANX has the charm that makes people want to bite them hard.
MSN: After that, what about the rest of the day?
NIGO: After my second year in high school, I continued to go to Tokyo every week.
After graduating from high school, I really wanted to go to Tokyo, so I enrolled in Bunka Fashion College.
This can be said to be a turning point in my life.
At that time, I went to Tokyo because I admired TINY PANX.
Then I met Jun Takahashi in school. He now runs the brand UNDER COVER.
He can be regarded as my first senior. Starting from him, my network of contacts gradually expanded.
At that time, I often went to a store called A STORE ROBOT.
The store owner said to me, "You look like Hiroshi Fujiwara. I will call you Hiroshi Fujiwara." ) No. 2 is ready.”
From then on, my nickname was NIGO. (Note)
Then the store owner also introduced me to Hiroshi Fujiwara.
It happened that Fujiwara Hiroshi was looking for an assistant, so he said, "This guy is pretty good."
It felt like this at the time.
After that, I stayed with Hiroshi Fujiwara and helped him with some chores.
At that time, we mostly worked in places like Shibuya and Azabu.
Although we already had me as an assistant, we were still quite busy at the time.
I get up early every day and go to Roppongi WAVE before work. The two of them spend half of their money to buy some newly released music.
This is probably the case.
For me at the time,
The goal I had always wanted to achieve (follow Hiroshi Fujiwara) actually came true two months after I came to Tokyo.
After the working environment with Hiroshi Fujiwara became stable, he rarely went to school.
I was really happy at that time.
I work part-time at a curry rice restaurant in Harajuku during the day, and I also do other jobs to buy records...
This kind of life probably happened when I was about 18 years old.
I still remember that when I first arrived in Tokyo, I lived in a very poor environment.
Living in a small room without even a bathroom or toilet.
But because life was very happy at that time, I didn’t feel particularly painful.
(Note) - Japanese No. 2 is pronounced NIGO.
MSN: How did it feel when you met your idol (Hiro Fujiwara) for the first time?
NIGO: I was really nervous. I was just an unknown kid at the time, and I didn’t dare to say anything when we first met.
In fact, when I see Hiroshi Fujiwara now, I still have the same feeling.
MSN: So you were working as a DJ's assistant and working in a curry rice canteen...
What’s next?
NIGO: I majored in EDITORIAL (editing) courses in school, and I wanted to work as a magazine editor.
However, because I ran around playing every night, I had no chance to get to know and interact with some magazine workers. The first time I did related work was at POPEYE magazine.
Although it is a part-time job, I still earn about 200,000 yen from editing 4 or 5 pages a month.
Working in a magazine is really nice...
While doing these things, I also graduated from Bunka Fashion College.
After graduation, I once discussed my future plans with Hiroshi Fujiwara, but he said, "Wouldn't it be nice to do nothing?" (laughing)
Do nothing. It's very good... But this makes it impossible to maintain a basic life.
At that time, I followed Hiroshi Fujiwara every day. He often invited me to dinner and sometimes gave me some pocket money.
But of course it’s not enough for me to buy what I want.
So I went to work at POPEYE, but I left the job soon.
Then I immediately went to work at HOT DOG PRESS magazine...
Actually, I was discovered because I was working at two magazines at the same time. (laughing) (Note)
(Note) - It is an unwritten rule in the Japanese publishing industry that working in multiple magazines at the same time Magazine work like this is taboo in the industry.
MSN: There is indeed such a rule... So what kind of life is there after that?
NIGO: Later I became very tired of the atmosphere in the publishing world and no longer wanted to be an editor.
It just so happens that the designer of MILK, Mr. HITOMI Okawa, has a good relationship with Hiroshi Fujiwara. I often hang out with him and help him with styling work when I have time.
I was about 20 or 21 years old at the time, and my monthly income was about 700,000 yen.
In addition to having a regular job, I also took on jobs such as art modeling and magazine model modeling, and I earned an income of 40,000 to 500,000 (yen) from this part.
At the same time, I was also writing something for BOON magazine. I was really working hard at that time.
At that time, I lived in Sakurasui for about five years, living in a room with a small attic.
Later, when I wanted to move, I bought my first car.
I still remember it was SUZUKI’s ESCUDO.
Because I heard that a member of BRAND NUBIAN drives this machine,
I thought this machine is really cool, so I bought it.... At that time, I was actually quite influenced by these HIPHOP groups.
Later, while working as a stylist, I also wrote some columns in magazines with Jun Takahashi...
Initially, TINY PANX serialized a column called "LAST ORGY" in Baodao Magazine, which could be called the "subculture bible" at the time.
It was after they stopped serializing that Jun Takahashi and I took over this column, naming it "LAST ORGY 2".
It was probably 1991 or 1992, when the Beastie Boys came back.
The series continued until 1993, when we opened a store called NOWHERE.
MSN: What did you sell in the store at the beginning?
NIGO: At the beginning, half of it was selling products that I bought from everywhere, and the other half was selling UNDER COVER clothing.
After half a year, because more and more similar shopping stores opened nearby, I thought "Let's design my own clothes!", so I started the brand A BATHING APE.
MSN: So does the brand concept of A BATHING APE come from the movie PLANET OF THE APES?
NIGO: The brand A BATHING APE is run by SKATETHING and I. (Note) We also like the movie PLANET OF THE APES...
Starting from Keigo Oyamada, everyone seems to have a fate with the "ape man".
But the answer to your question is no.
(Note) - SKATETHING’s real name is Shinichiro Nakamura. All other information is unknown.
He is one of the most important figures in Harajuku culture. He has never appeared in public and is quite low-key.
MSN: Huh? Isn't that true?
NIGO: First of all, I didn’t come up with the brand name A BATHING APE, but SKATETHING.
We used to hang out together, and once I said to him, "Let's create a brand together?"
Then one night, we were in the SKATETHING office, I came up with the logo and name of the ape-man head.
However, why SKATETHING chose the name A BATHING APE is still a mystery.
You are free to interpret it yourself.
Recently I heard someone explain it this way: "Ape-man bathing in hot water" - a satire on today's young people who spend their days in idleness and indolence,
living a life as if they were soaking in a hot spring.
However, although I meet with SKATETHING every day, I have never asked him properly. (laughs)
MSN: What kind of products did the brand design at the beginning?
NIGO: Originally designing T-shirts.
However, every time fifty pieces are produced, more than thirty of them are given to friends.
I don’t care whether this store makes money or not.
Because I have other regular jobs, I only regard running NOWHERE as a side job and purely as a hobby.
It should be said that as long as the money earned can maintain the basic expenses of this store.
So I didn’t think too much at the time, I just kept designing T-shirts.
MSN: After that, APE gradually attracted attention... Have you ever wondered what the secret to success is?
NIGO: Probably in the second year... At that time, I wanted to make some changes to the brand.
Even if I am not a major, as long as I am interested and have my own unique ideas to design clothes, isn’t that great?
MSN: If I asked you to be a stylist now, would you do it?
NIGO: Yes! But the time may be very tight...
Every time a fashion magazine does a special issue on APE, I almost always do the matching and styling of the clothes myself.
I will think very carefully about how to present the atmosphere of A BATHING APE.
I hope to be able to master these details personally and convey my ideas accurately.
But the end result is that these magazines often go too far to create and hype the so-called "Urahara craze", which I hate very much.
So whenever a magazine wants to do such a report, I hope everyone can have some knowledge.
However, there are still many magazines that do such things privately.
Various exaggerated descriptions and excessive flattery constantly create an atmosphere of "This is the most popular right now!"