NIGO’s brand born out of the Japanese streetwear movement had been around for 30 years, and on the eve of its 30th anniversary, BAPE took over the runway for the first time ever in NYC.

The show was definitely worth the wait, satisfying all the BAPE Heads out there, which by the way, was the name of the show. Because it’s BAPE, we didn’t get a regular runway show. Instead, the half fashion show, half performance gave us musical performances by Lil Baby, who wore a glittery tracksuit, and Coi Leray, as well as having some models skate down the runway.

With so many looks, it wasn’t just BAPE showing. There were also its sub-labels Aape, Bape Black, Bapy and Apee. The mainline was separated into three sections – “Sport Mania,” “College Classic” and “Denim Painter” – and showcased letterman varsity jackets, tracksuits, workwear inspired pieces and a whole load of graphic elements.

The Bape Black line gave us relaxed suits and an overall function-meets-classic take, while we saw 90s hip hop throughout the Aape section. Bapy was serving workwear and to finish off, Apee was a Gen Z focused segment with a heavy dose of Y2K. The whole shadow ended with what most people associate BAPE with: a range of camo shark full-zip hoodies.

Whether this show was a one-time thing to celebrate the Japanese brand’s milestone or whether we can expect more shows from BAPE is something only time will tell, but in the meantime we’ll be hoping for that second option.

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