Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Art, Fashion & Design >

BAPE - still credible?

13:28 / 11.12.06

Only recently purchased a BAPE t-shirt but get the feeling that it is rapidly losing credibility...

Anyone else still into BAPE or preferring other street labels?

13:30 / 11.12.06

Maybe you could try a lower temperature wash. Or seperate your credible clothing from your unlikely gear when you wash them.

Red Cross Iodized Salt

17:45 / 12.12.06

Is Bape less credible? Depends who you ask. I think street wear in general is becoming less credible, although it may just be that I and those (few) of my friends who pay attention to things like that are getting older and into different stuff. I still see plenty of younger guys around NYC (I'm guessing late teens / early 20s) wearing Bape (and BBC, Supreme, aNYthing, alife, Ice Creams, limited release SB Dunks) but these labels do seem to have been dropped by skater types and picked up on by hip-hop kids. Probably thanks to Pharell more than anything else. In general though, there seems to be a move towards more understated clothing that focuses on quality of materials and construction (whether real or percieved) and drops the branding somewhat. If you like the Bape shirt there's no reason why you shouldn't wear it. If you like the Japanese street wear look (and don't mind the price point) but want something less well known than Bape maybe take a look at Neighborhood or W)Taps.

08:05 / 13.12.06

I have heard that Bape has a lot more exposure at all levels in the US - maybe down to more fakes?

In the UK (outside of London) it is very rare to see anyone wearing BAPE.

I do like the looks of w/taps and Neighbourhood, also headporter and visvim from Japan but as you say the prices are high. Check plainflour or pondon on ebay for more reasonable prives.

I think for me on a local scale BAPE still hs credibility as it has hardly broken through - interesting to hear peoples views from other areas though.

Also liking Acronym and 6876 at the mo...

Crux Is This City's Protector.

23:44 / 13.12.06

So, I just looked up what the fuck BAPE is and it's all a little baffling. What's the rational behind paying 400 dollars for a pair of pants that are remarkable simply because they're limited?

I'm genuinely curious; needless to say, I don't know anybody who's into "streetwear", as I am under the impression that scene in general is called. What's the deal? What does it mean to be credible?

07:29 / 14.12.06

I think unless you are into the ethos and culture of 'streetwear' you may find it hard to understand the rationale behind spending extortionate amounts of money on the clothing.

Maybe those that do buy into it are victims of subtle marketing plans but speaking for myself, I enjoy researching clothing release date, tracking down limited/rare clothing and then being the first/only one to wear it.

I suppose many would class themselves as collectors as well as wanting to wear fashionable clothes.

ONLY NICE THINGS

08:53 / 14.12.06

Gosh - 6876. Now that _does_ take me back - I had one of their jackets back in... oooh... 2000, possibly? By which token one might conclude that they are not only not credible, but have in fact not been credible for about 6 years.

09:42 / 14.12.06

I think unless you are into the ethos and culture of 'streetwear' you may find it hard to understand the rationale behind spending extortionate amounts of money on the clothing.

Is there a rationale though? Beyond being first, most fashionable? Could you explain what this is?

Haus: I think 6876 is still credible - well, I see there stuff in my favourite clothes store (A Butcher of Distinction on Brick Lane) and it looks good to me!

ONLY NICE THINGS

10:29 / 14.12.06

I must try to dig out the jacket - I like 6876 a lot, although I haven't been keeping track of their recent collections...

I suppose another question made be what distinguished "streetwear" from your standard "couture", or at least couture diffusion. What's the distinction? Is it the training of the designers, or the delivery channels, or what?

13:43 / 14.12.06

I would still say 6876 is credible - I suppose credible could read not popular (worn by the masses)! It is all relative I suppose?

I would class 6876 as casual wear as sported by the football . Other labels in this category could include CP Company, Osti Productions (vintage Osti designs - Left Hand, ST95, Stone Island), One True Saxon, Armani Jeans etc.

The rationale beyond being first and enjoying the exclusivity(?) may be to enforce your identity e.g. hip hop head, hooligan, skater, rocker, punk etc.

I would say streetwear and casual wear is different to standard fashion in delivery, marketing, brand placement...but mainly in that fashions in this area can emerge purely through consumer behaviour and without much initial prompting from labels.

13:12 / 19.12.06

Bathing Ape garments are astonishingly poorly-made. But the £3 knock-offs i got in Thailand five years ago are still going strong. Buy fake BAPE; it has the advantage of still being obscure enough in the uk that no one will notice. Or indeed care.

16:15 / 19.12.06

Maybe this merits a separate thread, but there's a news item on M & S settling with Jimmy Choo over the former putting out a handbag for sale remarkably similar to an item produced in far lower numbers and much higher prices by the latter. This article highlighted that this was part of a recent trend:

Last summer, French fashion house Chloe began action against High Street chain Kookai for its £35 whip stitch pocket bag.

Chloe claimed the handbag was a lookalike of its £1,086 snakeskin Silverado bag which became one of the group's bestsellers after all 1,000 bags sold out within weeks of hitting the shops.

Is there a larger issue of whether fashion companies should be aggressively protecting the "likeness" of items which are produced intentionally as limited editions, and where they can no longer profit from the sale of such items or be harmed competitively by the sales of copycat items, except in terms of brand exclusivity?

07:35 / 22.12.06

This article on NYTimes gives a bit more insight into the culture and also touches on Blake Head's comments about the control of larger fashion houses.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/fashion/21STREET.html?pagewanted=2&_r=4