The Quiet Quality of CoolKeeping

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MAKOTO KUJIRAOKA

DECADES BEFORE THE INTERNET MULTIPLIED HYPE CULTURE FOR THE MASSES, NIGO WROTE THE RULES. AND HE KEEPS DOING IT AGAIN. AND AGAIN. AND AGAIN.

There is no greater influence on the culture of hype than that of Japanese designer Nigo. Through A Bathing Ape, his prescient clothing line launched in 1993, Nigo established so much of what would become our contemporary understanding of style. By pioneering collaborations between brands; keeping product runs tight and exclusive so as to create scarcity and foment intrigue; aligning himself with rappers and DJs at a time when luxury companies were still anxious about any association with hip-hop; establishing clear, concise iconography that was instantly recognizable; bringing together the worlds of youth fashion and high-end luxury, he became the blueprint for desire—so much so that none other than Virgil Abloh once decreed that there was no one like him. “Nigo helped us understand how luxury can relate to a new generation.”