Bape x Star Wars: someone hand me a phaser

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away there was this clothing brand from Japan that became really pretty cool mainly because of the select media types it chose to be associated with and the quirky cartoon-like nature of its designs which also had a kind of respectable undertone because they centred on apes and played quite a bit on the planet on which apes lived, called the Planet of the Apes.

Well that was then and that was that star system. Somewhere along the line tastes in this brand changed, initially in Japan, where people soon got a sniff of what a sell-out the founder of Bathing Ape, Nigo, was becoming. Then some real gorillas, or gangsta rappers as they are also known, started to take interest in the brand and before long Bape, as it was known then, had transgressed from cool to crap.

A similar thing happened to this brand called Star Wars, the reputation of which was decimated by a succession of appalling prequels, leaving only the design of costumes and the original films to stand it up. But then the creator George Lucas got greedy and as he slowly licensed away the last traces of respectability, along came Bape.

And this is the result. The bastard offsrping of a dying brand and an overmilked movie franchise.

And as a former fan of both of these entities, I am slowly weeping into my keyboard as I type.

Bape x Star Wars launched in the New York Bape store last week.

I am in the process of finding a shuttle off this rock.

Baracuta collabs: Steve would go Ape

When Steve McQueen slipped on that Baracuta G9 back in the day he inadvertently fuelled the flames of a style that was even then heading towards classic status.

What he would think of the latest incarnations of the jacket is anyone's guess.

There is one version of the G9 in collaboration with Deluxe and then the Bape version of the G4, which has been previously mentioned on this site but is available to see here in all its monkey-like detail.

A Bathing Ape reinvents the classics

I didn't really want Bape to die, but that's what happens when the gangstas get hold of something. I put the blame firmly at Nigo's feet. Then he sold out and I thought that was the end of it.

But the ape has had an epiphany and we're seeing some interesting interpretations of the classics coming through. This time Nigo's not just blatantly ripping off designs, he's collaborating.

For these projects the Bape monicker has been dropped and it is now A Bathing Ape.

So you get the A Bathing Ape x Mackintosh Kellas jacket and the A Bathing Ape x Mackintosh Baracuta G4 and G9. And to give Nigo his due, he has chosen wisely. I have both a Mackintosh Kellas and a Baracuta (G10, mind) in my own collection.

I even considered a Rocky Mountain Featherbed vest briefly.

Baby Milo: life after death

Baby milo might as well have sounded his last grunt after Nigo sold out to Hong Kong based IT Limited last month as far as many of you are concerned.

But while Bape might be the clothes brand equivalent of a remote controlled car these days, at least Milo's death won't be entirely in vain.

Because in the name of art and research, Kaws has disected him.

Apparently it turned out he didn't have a heart. That had already been sold.