Fashion in music and how the two worlds collide.
Fashion in music and how the two worlds collide.
Eversince the early 80s, Hip-Hop and fashion have been closely related, influencing one another creatively, as the genre itself advances so does the fashion around it. The subculture of fashion in rap and hip-hop allows me to explore so much, from the designers, history, influences and even the future.Â
Born in Japan, Nigo became first interested in fashion by reading the influential Japanese fashion magazine ,"Popeye". At the age of 18 he kickstarted his career in fashion when moving to Tokyo to study fashion. It was here he was introduced to future partners Takahashi and Fujiwara, Fujiwara in fact landed him a job at Popeye magazine as a journalist, further allowing his love for fashion to grow. By 1993, Nigo and Takahashi conceived of the now iconic brand "A BATHING APE" or "BAPE" for short. Although at first selling only hand printed t shirts by Nigo, it didn't take long before the brand gained a cult following in Japan. However it wasn't until 2002 when Nigo released the famous "Bapesta", that his career in fashion collided with the fast-growing 2000s hip-hop scene in America. The "Bapesta" was a spin on the highly popular shoe by Nike, "Airforce 1", a staple in rap however not necessarily a canvas for creativity. Nigo was here to change that.
Using the same silhouette of the Airforce, the bapesta replaced the "Nike swoosh" for a lightning zap and changing other details of the shoe. However the successfulness of the bapesta came down to the bold, bright and wacky colour combinations, which caught the eyes of the hip-hop scene. With the help of Pharell Williams,(a hip-hop artist, producer, designer and member of the highly successful hip-hop group N.E.R.D, from LA ), the once underground BAPE brand emerged swiftly and rapidly in America rap culture, with the first American Bape store opening in 2005. By 2006 Nigo collabed with Pharell's N.E.R.D to produce a bold pink and red bapesta with subtle details such as the N.E.R.D brain logo. Then in 2007, Kanye West caught wind of Nigo and his brand BAPE through his friendship with Pharell, and created the famous Kanye West Bapesta. It was this moment that in hindsight was a turning point for Nigo's career and the brand BAPE itself. It was no longer something unique to Japan, by now Nigo was highly respected and known across the western hip-hop scene, and had firmly planted himself as one of the most important and creative minds for fashion in the music industry.
Since then, Nigo has continued to grow, helping Pharrell build the brand Billionaire Boys Club, a brand iconic in hip-hop after appearing in the "Frontin" music video, ft Jay-Z and pharell. In 2010 Nigo launched "human made", marking a change in Nigo's style and design, leaning away from the crazy colour schemes and instead focusing on the quality and silhouette of the garment itself. However this change in style was still popular amongst rap culture, collaborating with rappers such as Lil Uzi Vert. Perhaps it was this change in Nigo's style that landed him a collaboration with Louis Vuitton and the late Virgil Abloh, combining his wacky style with traditional LV designs, to create a uniquely Nigo collection. Today you'll find Nigo as artistic director of designer brand Kenzo, debuting his first collection in 2022, featuring some of his best work to date. Alongside his fashion career he released his album "I Know Nigo" in March of 2022, featuring top names such as Kanye, Tyler the creator, Pharell, Pusha T and many more. It is fair to say Nigo is the most influential in the hip-hop fashion scene, and despite being in the scene for 30 years, his career seems far from over as he continues to push boundaries and develop creatively.