Complex Presents by Complex Media Inc

Author:Complex Media, Inc.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2020-10-20T00:00:00+00:00

Honorable Mention

BAPE Bapesta

by Mike DeStefano

The Nike Air Force 1 is among the most iconic sneakers of all time. Plenty of brands have produced their take on the clean, simple low-top version of the shoe over the years, but none have been nearly as popular and respected as A Bathing Ape’s Bapesta, Nigo’s love letter to the original.

The Bapesta’s design was nearly identical to the AF1’s, but instead of Swooshes, it had star logos, and in place of “Nike Air” branding was a “BAPESTA” tongue tag. It also came in vibrant colorways that used patent leather or exotic materials like snakeskin that Nike—until that point—hadn’t employed. (Interestingly, Nike never sued Bape or Nigo.)

When the first Bapesta dropped in 2002, Bape was still a few years from the height of its popularity in both Japan and the United States. Nigo has famously said that it wasn’t until the US (with help from the cosigns of Pharrell Williams, Clipse, and Kanye West) got behind the brand that Japan did, too. But the Japanese took to the Bapestas—essentially a remake of a familiar shoe from the ’80s in bright, glossy colors—instantly. Launched just as Japan’s sneaker boom went into overdrive, the Bapesta, with its old-school feel, set itself apart from what was happening in sneakers elsewhere and became a local hit.

Stateside, the shoe was initially met with some resistance from sneakerheads who saw it as a knockoff more than an homage to the American culture that Nigo was so obsessed with. Bape fans, though, became enamored of the flashy and extremely limited sneakers. Still almost impossible to get if you lived anywhere but Japan, Bape was becoming a status symbol, a head-to-toe uniform for those in the know, and the Bapesta was part of the equation.

“In a way, Bapesta sneakers happened by accident, so I did not expect them to have such a strong following in and outside Japan,” Nigo said in A Bathing Ape, the book published by Rizzoli. “Let’s just say the line was a product of last resort that made a good turn for the better. We are not a proper sportswear manufacturer but a fashion brand, so the sneakers are merely a component of the seasonal collections, but they definitely set the trend for colorful sneakers.”

Since their initial release, there have been several Bapesta collaborations, including versions by N*E*R*D, Kaws, Marvel, and, perhaps the most coveted, a pair designed by West. Today, Bape (without Nigo, who left the brand in 2013) continues to release Bapestas. While the appetite for them has diminished over the years, they represent a very specific time in streetwear, when all-over-print hoodies dominated people’s closets.

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