Writing Piece #3 Rough Draft

Hip-Hop Culture goes Ape @#$%

Spawned from Harajuku, Japan, “where the currency is cool, and A Bathing Ape is the golden standard,” this Japanese “cult clothing” has now become the newest fad in the United States. The Hip-Hop culture has taken the United States and the rest of the world by storm within the past ten years and the clothing industry realizes that. A clothing line known as A Bathing Ape has become the newest hottest fashion as Hip-Hop becomes increasingly dominant in our society. We have seen how the Hip-Hop industry has progressed from being a fad into being the signature music of generation Y. It is not surprising that A Bathing Ape clothing has also become synonymous with this brightly colored type of music.
A Bathing Ape clothing line was created by Japanese designer DJ Nigo in 1993. Originally A Bathing Ape was recognized for the brightly colored shoes; no one had ever used crazy colored patent leather on shoes before. The original A Bathing Ape shoe style was devised in the resemblance of Nike Air Force Ones. These shoes come in all sorts of colors ranging from your simple black and white, to camouflage. Even for lyrical mastermind Common, who does not own a pair of BAPE sneakers says “It’s really progressive and in a way cutting edge, it is hip stuff.”
Of course, A Bathing Ape also sells other products such as T-shirts, outdoor clothing, home goods, and even action figures. Chances are you have seen some of A Bathing Ape’s apparel but were too mesmerized by the bright colors and patterns to take notice of the signature A Bathing Ape star, or BAPE star.

Before this new hot fashion became popular in the United States, this clothing line was considered “the ultimate symbol of youthful cool in Japan’s street culture,” says DJ DJ Nigo. Now, with the help of famous Hip-Hop artists like Pharrell, Kanye West, Mos Def, and Common A Bathing Ape clothing line has really become a must have for any avid Hip-Hop Junky. This has been somewhat surprising to many because of the change from what the Hip-Hop style has been in the past. When people think about Hip-Hop they think big jewelry, fancy cars, and lots of beautiful half-naked women, but A Bathing Ape clothing line has started to go away from that.

Of course, A Bathing Ape product line still captures the attention of its buyers “I enjoy the attention to detail they pay to their product. I like their cleverness and wittiness and I appreciate them as a design brand. It’s really encompasses the true spirit of what Hip-Hop culture is, and that’s why we are able to strongly connect with it,” says world renounced MC Mos Def. He also referred to A Bathing Ape clothing line as being in the same tradition of Dapper Dan, which was an “old-school” clothing line worn by rapper icon and legend Slick Rick.

Besides developing the A Bathing Ape line of products DJ Nigo has also teamed up with master music beat maker Pharrell. Together they created another line of shoes as well as other products known as Ice Cream. “I’ve got to support it because they are always thinking of something fresh whether it’s music, style or whatever,” says Common. The Ice Cream product line has similar items to with similar color schemes to A Bathing Ape, but nevertheless they are both really hot sellers in today’s Hip-Hop market place.

The secret to the success of the clothing line is its exclusivity; almost every one of A Bathing Ape’s products is limited-edition. The exclusivity of the brand is what makes the brand so hot. For example, A Bathing Ape’s Hong Kong branch allows only prescreened people to shop there. This means that only people who are in certain industries or are connected are able to actually shop at the stores. This is the reason for the rock-concert fashion lines and why the resale of a simple T-shirt could be priced all the way up to around $1,000. The newest store location is in Soho, New York. This store will be one of the official stores around world. The other main stores are located in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and London. Along with the official stores A Bathing Ape Products can also be purchased online at http://www.bape.com.

I have been a strong supporter of the hip-hop community for about the last decade, and I have never seen any type of clothing line like this before. DJ Nigo has definitely found a niche in the market and not only is he making he apparel known world wide, but hopefully soon A Bathing Ape will be a regular household name. With the help of famous Hip-Hop artists along with the growing demand for Bathing Ape products, soon this line of clothing will not be a trend it will be the standard.