For its Fall/Winter 2022 menswear collection, BAPE goes back to basics, kinda. The longstanding Japanese streetwear label is focused on reviving what it considers the five core tenets of the BAPE identity, reviving a host of old-school shapes and styles in contemporary cuts.
That is to say, BAPE FW22 channels collegiate style, militaria, outdoor gear, sportswear, and hip-hop steeze, elements that've been present in BAPE collections since the days of NIGO.
In fact, BAPE helpfully lists out the specific reference points from the FW22 collection on its website.
There's collegiate influence in the color-mismatched hoodie and crystal-lettered BAPE T-shirt, apparently. The varsity jackets more successfully channel that off-season university student feel, though, and they even sport some retro patches and logos to really drive that old-school nostalgia home.
Militaria ought to go without saying: one of BAPE's most famous designs is the FIRST CAMO that incorporates APE HEAD imagery right into the pattern. But there's an additional level to BAPE's milsurp inspiration, in that NIGO was tight with WTAPS founder Tetsu Nishiyama and brought a comparable level of fetishistic garment reproduction to BAPE for a period in the '90s.
In case you forget exactly when, just peep the gun-totin' logo printed on the FW22 puffer jacket among the other bits of retro branding: most of the stuff with that tag is from the golden era.
Speed round: outdoor gear is represented by fleece layering pieces and an APE HEAD-shaped table, sports taste comes through in the World Cup-inspired football-style shirts and jerseys, while hip-hop comes through in the generously-cut, washed-out denim jeans and new iterations of BAPE's SHARK HOODIE, a favorite among the aughts' BAPE-obsessed rappers.
It's trite to say that any clothing collection has "something for everyone" because, really, they don't
But BAPE's aiming for a pretty big chunk of its audience with the FW22 collection. If fans aren't satisfied from the hoodies, jackets, T-shirts, pants, and hats alone, there's an ample supple of BAPESTRA footwear and currently unknown collaborations also in the works.
What more could a BAPE fan ask for?
