A Brief History of BAPE's Iconic Ape Head Logo & 1ST CAMO Pattern
The origins of two designs that defined a streetwear movement.
In 1993, Tomoaki “Nigo” Nagao founded A Bathing Ape, or BAPE, in Harajuku, Tokyo. Fascinated with hip-hop in his teens, Nigo was drawn towards Tokyo’s vibrant nightlife and club scene. Once he had fashioned a collection of vinyl records and purchased turntables, he began DJing in Tokyo clubs, before producing for Japanese hip-hop group, the Teriyaki Boyz. Afterwards, Nigo studied at Tokyo’s famous Bunka Fashion College, while working as an editor at Popeye Magazine.
Around this time, Nigo met Jun Takahashi (of UNDERCOVER), and the pair went on to found retailer NOWHERE, the very first stockist of BAPE when Nigo established the brand shortly thereafter. A true tastemaker and cultural arbiter, Nigo brought many of the era’s ideas and aesthetics to both NOWHERE and BAPE, becoming both a major force and a byproduct of Ura-Harajuku style.
Here we take a look back at BAPE’s early days, focusing on the brand’s Ape Head logo and 1ST CAMO pattern, two motifs that launched the Japanese label to the forefront of streetwear more than 20 years ago.
BAPE's Early Days
Nigo and close collaborator Shinichiro “Sk8thing” Nakamura came up with the original concept for A Bathing Ape after the duo indulged in a five-hour Planet of the Apes marathon. The brand name, inspired by the sci-fi classic, doubled as a reference to “a bathing ape in lukewarm water,” a Japanese idiom alluding to luxury and consumerism. The design language also borrowed heavily from the 1968 film, spawning a visual vocabulary that inspired and transformed style forever.
Created by Sk8thing, BAPE’s Ape Head logo appeared front and center on limited-run T-shirts and hoodies, setting the tone for the brand’s graphic-heavy approach. The uncomplicated two-tone design lent itself well to the process of screen printing and Nigo himself printed 50 shirts per week early on in the brand’s history, resulting in unintended product scarcity.
A statement design on its own, the logo found an even richer life as part of the brand’s 1ST CAMO, an original BAPE pattern based on traditional duck camouflage with Ape Head logos integrated throughout. Although a direct descendent of his country’s streetwear scene, Nigo’s interest in using camouflage as a signifier of his brand directly correlated with his interest in everything Americana, from music and television to trucker hats and varsity jackets.
Camouflage That Doesn't Go Unnoticed
The design catapulted the Japanese brand into the style spotlight, famously appearing on the shoulders of Notorious B.I.G. in 1996. Within a few years, BAPE stood as the country’s de facto streetwear leader, a status cemented through a 2002 collaboration with Supreme, which featured the New York label’s box logo against a background of 1ST CAMO instead of the brand’s signature red. BAPE’s camouflage styles became even more covetable when the brand finally arrived Stateside at flagship stores in New York City (2004) and Los Angeles (2008).
Figures defining the look, sound and feel of early-to-mid 2000s culture brought their own interpretation of the Japanese export to the West, helping propel the brand to a new level of popularity. Lil Wayne became one of the biggest proponents of BAPE camouflage, pairing a purple camo hoodie with pastel camo boxers on the cover of VIBE, while Pharrell Williams often appeared in front of the camera in Sk8thing’s design.
But before either Weezy or Skateboard P turned the world’s attention to Nigo’s brand, Robin Williams showed up to a 2002 interview in France in a short-sleeved BAPE camouflage button-up and Nike 'Viotech' Dunks, an image that has since been used to remember the late actor and comedian as a visionary ahead of his time across so many mediums.
Bape-Camo Everything
Today, the 1ST CAMO pattern is considered the brand’s most recognizable calling card and the source material for a number of spinoff patterns and iterations, including 2ND CAMO, CITY CAMO, STA CAMO and ABC CAMO. Many of BAPE’s most beloved pieces of all time feature the print, such as the brand’s signature full-zip hoodies from 2004, which pair a frowning shark-face on the hood with “World Gone Mad” chenille patches and other decorative graphics. Countless collectable accessories have also been given the 1ST CAMO treatment, including G-SHOCK watches and rugs, alongside more eclectic memorabilia like fishing lures, duct tape and chopsticks.
In the world of sneakers, the Bapesta and Skullsta, models that pay tribute to the Nike Air Force 1 and adidas Superstar, respectively, have been produced in a plethora of camouflage iterations over the years. Official adidas silhouettes have also received CAMO makeovers, beginning with the Super Ape Star in 2003. The collaboration has continued on and off since, resulting in CAMO-clad versions of both newer and classic adidas footwear, such as the ZX 5000, Campus, Superstar, NMD_R1, UltraBoost and Dame 4.
Beyond wearable options, the first BAPE stores in Japan were merchandised with the pattern, covering everything from wall panels to mid-century-style sofas in Sk8thing’s iconic CAMO, a motif BAPE continues to leverage in stores worldwide. Nigo, known for his personal collection of pop-culture artifacts, has taken the pattern far beyond its heritage streetwear use, wrapping a number of rare and covetable cars with camouflage over the years, including a 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing, a Bugatti Veyron and a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Nigo and BAPE Today
Nigo gave up control of BAPE to Hong Kong-based conglomerate I.T in 2001, staying on as creative director until 2013 when he became creative director of Uniqlo UT and launched the brand Human Made. Post-Nigo, I.T has continued BAPE’s whimsical use of camo, blanketing both apparel essentials and obscure accessories in the pattern.
The notoriously reclusive Sk8thing has continued to work in the Ura-Hara sphere, collaborating with Japanese labels like WTAPS, NEIGHBORHOOD, UNDERCOVER and others, as well as Pharrell and Nigo’s shared project BBC/Ice Cream. Sk8thing is also one half of second-wave streetwear brand Cav Empt, which he co-runs with Toby Feltwell.
Alongside Supreme’s box logo, The Hundreds’ Adam Bomb insignia, Stüssy’s handstyle script and just a few others, BAPE’s Ape Head logo and 1ST CAMO pattern have earned their places in the streetwear pantheon. Nearly 30 years after their debut, they’re not just visual hallmarks of BAPE’s visual identity but irreplaceable words in the language of this phenomenon we call streetwear.