Bape Hosts 30th Anniversary Runway Show in New York City
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Bape returned to New York City Wednesday night to celebrate the brand’s 30th anniversary with a performance-meets-fashion show titled “Bape Heads.” Held at the live music venue Terminal 5, the event featured the debut of several men’s and women’s fall 2023 collections and special performances by Lola Brooke, Coi Leray and Lil Baby.
The event kicked off with segmented runway collections featuring Bape and its four sister labels Aape, Bape Black, Bapy and Apee. More than 100 men’s and women’s looks featuring the brand’s latest ready-to-wear, accessories and footwear hit the runway before the performers took the stage for individual sets. The brand brought out the likes of Chania Ray, Chris Brickiey, Fabolous, Fiffany Luu, Fivio Foreign, Hamidou Diallo, Jaylen Brown, Jalen Mills, Jett Kain, JT, Kacion Mayers, KJ Martin, Lynn Ban, Maria Beltre, Pardi and more to honor its anniversary.
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While the brand launched in and operates out of Japan, Bape chose to celebrate its 30th anniversary in New York as it has close ties to the city.
“Bape chose to celebrate its 30th anniversary in New York, a city that has been an important market for the brand since it expanded outside of Japan,” said Thomas Hui, chief operating officer of Bape. “New York’s connection to streetwear, music, street art and hip-hop culture has been closely associated with Bape throughout its history, making it an ideal location to pay tribute to the city and culture that played a significant role in the brand’s success.”
Founded by fashion designer Nigo in 1993, Bape, known also as A Bathing Ape, has been a leading brand in the streetwear market. Its close ties with Japanese streetwear, its signature camouflage print and ape head logo have resonated with fans over the last three decades. They are still core elements of the brand and in-house design team’s ethos even after Nigo’s departure in 2013. He is now creative director of Kenzo.
The brand’s consistent slate of collaborations has also helped maintain its popularity among fans. Bape has collaborated with musicians like Pharrell Williams and Kanye West, as well as other fashion brands including Adidas, Comme des Garçons, Supreme and Heron Preston, among others.
“Bape has cultivated a strong sense of community and exclusivity around their brand,” Hui said. “Their limited-edition releases and collaborations with high-profile artists and designers create a sense of exclusivity and hype around their products. Overall, Bape’s success can be attributed to their ability to create a unique brand image, stay relevant and cultivate a sense of community and exclusivity around the products.”
Operating multiple subbrands is another way to continue to resonate with customers, according to Hui, who explained that each subbrand is meant to cater to “different markets and demographics.” For example, he stated AAPE is a more affordable line aimed at younger customers, while Bape Black offers more elevated and luxurious pieces.
“Launching subbrands allows Bape to experiment with new styles and designs without diluting the main brand’s identity,” he said. “Each subbrand can have its own aesthetic and marketing strategy, enabling Bape to explore new ideas and trends.”
On the runway, the Bape line (the largest collection of the night) riffed on three key themes: “Sport Mania,” “College Classic” and “Denim Painter,” through ’90s hip-hop-inspired styles. For instance, women’s basketball shorts with an après-ski inspired sweater; logomania and warped camo denim (which looked great in shades of purple); graphic puffer and teddy jackets with skin-baring women’s fashions, or men’s flannels, hoodies, workwear layers, tracksuits and varsity jackets.
“This season, Bape has created new graphics such as the Bape Monogram letter pattern and enlarged ‘ABC Camo’ camouflage prints. The collection combines vintage signature items with new elements and features a vibrant and bold color palette inspired by vinyl record covers. The collection also includes dazzling jewelry accessories to complete the luxurious feel and bring back the retro Y2K aesthetic of the millennium era,” Hui added.
The Black Bape men’s line offered luxe takes on classic garments (which looked especially great in the form of leisure suiting mixed with utility pants and colorful landscape knitted sweaters) inspired by the “retro outdoor” trend, whereas the brand’s Aape line drew inspiration from ’90s streetwear, hip-hop and skateboarding (a handful of models rode down the runway on skateboards) with youthful, sporty knits and reworked sweatsuits in an array of poppy pastel shades and gradient-effect tie-dye. A key men’s look of Aape was noted to be an apricot-hued tracksuit with allover Moonface monogram motif.
Additionally, Bapy centered around “the office essentials” while Apee catered to its Gen Z and Japanese Gyaru audiences with early 2000s nostalgia. Standouts in womenswear included impressive tailoring (a black blazer and white button-down atop pleated skirt and crochet trousers); luxed-up logo denim (ranging from utility pants to a singular gown) and tweedy jackets, and a pair of silver paillette trousers with embellished pastel pink hoodie (and matching, glittering gloves). Across menswear, a mix of utilitarian dress, street and sportif styles nicely played off each other with modern élan.
The runway portion of Bape Heads concluded with a range of the brand’s signature camo shark full-zip hooded tracksuits (worn with large, inflatable wings). Throughout the show, each look was accessorized with oversize, sparkling statement jewelry and a strong array of the brand’s signature sneakers and footwear.
Going forward, Bape has plans to continue to expand internationally, with new stores slated for Europe, the U.S. and Asia-Pacific regions, and to continue dropping launches and collaborations.
Launch Gallery: Bape Hosts 30th Anniversary Runway Show
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