BAPE was founded by Nigo (Tomoaki Nagao) in Ura-Harajuku, Shibuya, Japan, a district known for fashion experimentation and youth culture. The name itself—“A Bathing Ape”—is a playful, ironic reference to “a bathing ape in lukewarm water,” a Japanese metaphor for complacency and excess. Nigo’s early strategy was to produce garments in