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BAPE STAR

It would seem a lot of people on hip-hop have a shoe fetish.

Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, Mos Def, the Roots' ?uestlove,
Common, Faith Evans, the Clipse's Pusha T, Spike Lee and a host
of other tastemakers and fashionistas braved the cold in January
to celebrate the opening of A Bathing Ape in New York's Soho
neighborhood.

Launched by Japanese designer Nigo in 1993, A Bathing Ape is
known for its one-of-a-kind footwear � brightly colored patent
leather sneakers that resemble Nike Air Force Ones. Nigo's
A Bathing Ape label quickly became the ultimate symbol of
youthful cool in Japan's street culture. Now his signature
camouflage prints appears on clothes, accessories, furniture,
action figures and plastic tape. The brand also sells a host of
other products, including T-shirts, outerwear and home goods.
Nigo teamed with Pharrell last year to launch the super
producer's own fashion lines, Ice Cream sneakers and
Billionaire Boys Club clothing.

"I'm just very thankful to be in business with a guy like this," said Pharrell, who hosted the event. "Without him, my BBC dreams and my Ice Cream dreams � none of those dreams would have ever happened. I told him my ideas and he made those things happen much in the same way he did with his own clothing line, and that's why I'm here to totally support it. It's his thing � it's A Bathing Ape."

Guests were treated to the sounds of ?uestlove on the turntables as they checked out shoes in a variety of colors and patterns � all featuring the signature BAPE sneaker star � against the store's stark white background.

Mos Def said he's been a fan of the line for years. "I like the attention to detail they pay to their product, and their enthusiasm. I also like their cleverness and wittiness. I appreciate them as a design brand � not just what they do with fashion, but with a lot of different products including home goods and underwear.�

"It's in the same tradition of Dapper Dan," he added, referring to the clothier to old-school rappers like Slick Rick and Dana Dane. "It's just revising something that is dominant in the culture and putting your own spin on it. It's very much in the spirit of what hip-hop is as a culture, so it definitely strikes a chord with us."

For Common, who said he didn't currently own a pair BAPE sneakers, the line is all about that next level of fashion.

"It's just real progressive and, in a way, it's that cutting edge, hip stuff," he gushed. "It's also a movement. I haven't been over to see all the stuff they have in Japan, but from what I have been told, Nigo and A Bathing Ape has a lot of different things that are good items to have � stores and everything. Also, what Pharrell is doing with Ice Cream, I've got to support that because he's always coming with something fresh, whether it's music, style or whatever. I'm going to get some free ones and I'm going to support."

What�s the secret to his success? Unattainability is the name of Nigo's game. He carefully rations his creations: There may be just 15 pieces of a particular jacket, for instance, or 500 units of a T-shirt. Cynics would say it's all designed to hype up demand, but Nigo insists that's not the case. "Limited production started with me," he says. "I wanted to dress differently from others. Like young people today, I want something unusual or difficult to get." He is well plugged into youth culture. As a fashion student in 1990, he moonlighted as a stylist and writer for Japanese trend magazines.

Nigo's reclusive persona only adds to the appeal. He refuses to give his full name and age, and is often described as shy, his eyes typically hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. An occasional DJ and drummer, he released his own hip-hop album two years ago. But he is so protective of his private life that he's almost an urban myth. Big-business tie-ups (ape-edition Pepsi cans, for one) haven't undermined his underground status. "I just do what I want to do, create what I want to create," he says.

A Bathing Ape doesn't advertise. Nigo's flagship Nowhere store in Aoyama doesn't even carry a shop sign � a test of devotees' tracking skills. And when they do locate the store, or one of his 12 Busy Work Shop outlets in Japan, fans often have to queue for hours to get in. Appointments are needed at his Hong Kong store, the only one outside Japan. To discourage black-market sales, buyers are allowed just one piece of any product, and clothes in their own sizes. Some items, say a $50 T-shirt, still find their way into other stores in Tokyo, but at double or even triple the original price. In London, they may cost four times more.

Clever marketing aside, A Bathing Ape also owes its growth to smart design, attention to detail, unique packaging � and tight stock control. Having found followers in London and New York, Nigo now dreams of bringing his stores to those cities. "In Tokyo 10 to 15 years ago, you could only find culture imported from London and the U.S.," he says. "Now, Tokyo is the creative city exporting its [fashion and music] culture to the world." If Nigo goes global, it will be the planet of the apes � bathing apes.