A Bathing Ape - wikipedia A Bathing Ape A Bathing Ape ア ・ ベイジング ・ エイプ ( Bape ) Type Subsidiary Industry Fashion Founded 1993 ; 25 years ago ( 1993 ) in Ura - Harajuku, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan Founder Nigo Headquarters Tokyo, Japan Owner I.T Group Website bape.com BAPE store deployed in Hong Kong A Bathing Ape ( ア ・ ベイジング ・ エイプ, A Beijingu Eipu ) ( or BAPE ) is a Japanese clothing brand founded by Nigo ( Tomoaki Nagao ) in Ura - Harajuku in 1993. The brand specializes in men 's, women 's and children 's lifestyle and street wear, running 19 stores in Japan, including Bape Stores, Bape Pirate Stores, Bape Kids Stores, Bapexclusive Aoyama, and Bapexclusive Kyoto. The Kyoto store also includes Bape Gallery, a space used for various events and art shows sponsored by Bape. There are also stores located in Hong Kong, New York City, London, Paris, Taipei, Los Angeles, China, Bangkok and Singapore. The company previously operated ( Busy Work Shop ), Bape Cuts hair salon, Bape Café, BABY MILO and The cay Soldier. Nigo also founded the secondary lines AAPE ( by A Bathing Ape ) and BAPY ( Busy Working Lady ). In 2011, the company had been sold to Hong Kong fashion conglomerate I.T Group. Nigo left the brand in 2013. Contents 1 History 2 Design 3 See also 4 References 5 External links History Nigo, founder and owner, cites his mother and father, who were a nurse and a billboard maker respectively, as major influences in the development of his character, though because they both worked, he spent a lot of time alone with toys. He also credits DJ / fashion guru Hiroshi Fujiwara as his business model. His nickname means `` number two '' in Japanese ; the MD of Astoarobot, the fashion store, coined the moniker when he noted the physical resemblance to Fujiwara. Nigo cites his early influences as Elvis, The Beatles and hip - hop acts such as Beastie Boys and Run -- D.M.C. After studying fashion editing at college, he worked as an editor and a stylist for Popeye magazine. After borrowing four million yen from an acquaintance, who also let him use his shop, he opened `` Nowhere '', his first store, along with Jun Takahashi of Undercover, on April 1, 1993, in Ura - Harajuku. Deciding to start his own brand, he named it after the 1968 film Planet of the Apes. According to Nigo, the name `` BAPE '' is a reference to `` A Bathing Ape in Lukewarm Water ''. Japanese people typically have daily baths in water at temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius ( 104 ° F ). As such, to bathe in lukewarm water is to complacently overindulge. This is an ironic reference to the lazy opulence of the younger generation of Japanese, the brand 's own customers. To expose the brand he gave T - shirts to the musician Cornelius who wore them when performing. For two years he produced 30 to 50 shirts a week, selling half and giving half to friends. In 1997, Nigo released his debut album Ape Sounds under Mo'Wax, with DJ / Producer James Lavelle of UNKLE. Nigo is also co-owner and head designer of Pharrell Williams ' clothes brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream. On February 1, 2011, it was announced that A Bathing Ape had been sold to Hong Kong fashion conglomerate I.T Group. I.T purchased a 90.27 % stake in A Bathing Ape. In a transaction encompassing $21,850,000 HKD ( approx. $2.8 million USD ), I.T purchased a total of 668 shares. Exact details regarding the creative future and expansion of A Bathing Ape are unknown ; however, A Bathing Ape founder Nigo remained on board as the Creative Director for the next two years. Bape is a popular Japanese street fashion brand and with many celebrities appearing in magazines and catalogs wearing Bape 's clothing. Design Bape frequently collaborates with other brands and features characters from popular media such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Marvel comics characters, Nintendo, DC Comics, and Hello Kitty and the Sanrio Family. These designs are used throughout the Bathing Ape range, on goodies, accessories, hoodies, jackets, T - shirts and shoes. A Bathing Ape has also collaborated with many other famous brands such as Pepsi, Coca - Cola, M * A * C, Comme des Garçons, Undercover, Neighborhood, mastermind Japan, Supreme, Wiz Khalifa, Stüssy, Carhartt, Casio and artists such as Biggie Smalls, Beastie Boys, Pharrell, UNKLE, Kanye West, A $ AP Rocky, A $ AP Ferg, Kid Cudi, Juelz Santana, Pusha T, KAWS, Kreayshawn, Linkin Park, Gary Panter, Big Sean, Lil ' Wayne, Chris Brown, Flatbush Zombies, Travis Scott, Domo Genesis, Damian Lillard, and Keith Ape. See also I.T Billionaire Boys Club References ^ Jump up to : David Fischer, NIGO Announces His Definitive Departure from BAPE highsnobiety, May 25, 2013 Jump up ^ Breaking Down Bapes TheHipHopIcon.com, 2007. Retrieved October 4, 2007 Jump up ^ ( 1 ) bape.com, 2010. Retrieved August 1, 2010 ^ Jump up to : CNN TalkAsia Transcript 28 February 2006. Retrieved June 28, 2007. ^ Jump up to : Nigo interview Archived July 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Pig Mag 24 May 2005. Retrieved 21 June 2007. Jump up ^ `` Recognize Fresh ! Billionaire Boys Club ''. Jump up ^ `` I.T Hong Kong Purchase a 90 % Financial Stake in A Bathing Ape ''. Jump up ^ Kansai Scene Magazine : : Style Archived July 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. External links Official website Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Bathing_Ape&oldid=845040778 '' Categories : Companies established in 1993 Clothing brands of Japan Clothing retailers of Japan 2000s fashion Hip hop fashion Clothing companies of Hong Kong Companies of Hong Kong Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Pages using deprecated image syntax Articles containing Japanese - language text Talk Contents About Wikipedia Dansk Deutsch Español Français 한국어 Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Nederlands 日本 語 Русский Svenska Українська 中文 4 more Edit links This page was last edited on 8 June 2018, at 22 : 38 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who is the owner of the brand bape
Answer: I.T Group