Yuga Labs, web3 leader and home of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), CryptoPunks, Meebits, and 10KTF, today announced a partnership with iconic brand, A BATHING APE® (BAPE®).
It’s the first collaboration between BAPE®, the 30-year-old pioneer of streetwear community building, and Bored Ape Yacht Club, the disruptive, industry-leading collective in web3. Together, the two brands have reimagined iconic designs from BAPE®’s deep archives and usher in a return to the golden age of streetwear collecting. With one foot in BAPE®’s Ura-Harajuku roots and the other in the BAYC swamp, this collection offers BAPE® Heads and BAYC members exclusive access to apparel and accessories that reflect their shared appreciation for laid back opulence and irreverence.
Rejecting the overexposure of modern day streetwear collaborations, the two brands brought the assortment to life through extremely limited quantities and a dedicated focus on their community members. The collection makes its world debut November 4 in Hong Kong during ApeFest, BAYC’s annual, global community event. Honoring the days when BAPE® t-shirts were sold exclusively to friends, the collection will launch to the BAYC community first, where members can purchase in-person during ApeFest, or online with token-gated access. Then, the collection drops exclusively for BAPETAVERSE members online. Finally, in December the collection will be released at BAPE STORE® and BAPE.COM globally, where the public can access the collaboration.
“As Fashion goes hand-in-hand with web3, particularly in the current times, where the two have the power to impact each other almost instantaneously, we are thrilled to present this groundbreaking collaboration with Yuga Labs,” said Thomas Hui, Chief Operating Officer of BAPE®.
“This is much more than two brands coming together just because they have ‘Ape’ in their names,” added Michael Ghory, Yuga Labs’ new Vice President of Apparel and Lifestyle. “Our partnership was built on genuine, mutual respect and a dedication to our communities, who are tired of the everywhere-ness of recent sneaker and apparel collaborations. We are excited to offer exclusive early access to our BAYC members and the BAPE® Heads, and welcome the world to ape in with our later global public release.”
“It may come as no surprise that we’re fans,” said Greg Solano, Co-Founder of Yuga Labs, “and we know a lot of members of the Bored Ape Yacht Club are too. BAYC collaborating with BAPE® on a limited physical collection feels like the most natural thing in the world.”
The collection will also be open to public ticket-holders for a short window during the Yacht Club Open House on November 5th, where for the first time ever BAYC will host an interactive experience that will be accessible to everyone– creators, collectors, and the crypto-curious. Those who purchase tickets to the Yacht Club Open House will be able to access the limited-edition apparel and accessories, while supplies last. For more information including how to purchase tickets, visit: https://openhouse.boredapeyachtclub.com/.
About Yuga Labs
Yuga Labs is a web3 company shaping the future through storytelling, experiences, and community. Guided by the belief that the potential of web3 can be realized when we start with imagination, not limitations, Yuga’s initiatives aim to reinvent what real-world utility for NFTs look like and push the space forward as a whole. Since their launch in April 2021 with flagship collection Bored Ape Yacht Club, they’ve made headlines as one of the first companies to release IP licenses to their NFT holders, acquired and released rights to other top collections (CryptoPunks and Meebits), and made web3 history with record-breaking synchronized player participation in their newest initiative, Otherside. One of the most ambitious interactive metaverse projects to date, Otherside is built with the community, rebelling against traditional walled gardens in gaming spaces. In March 2022, Yuga Labs raised a $450M seed round at a $4B valuation.
About BAPE®
Born in the heart of Harajuku, Japan in 1993, BAPE® has served as a symbol of Japanese street fashion for more than 30 years. Striving to introduce Japanese fashion culture to the world, BAPE® has cemented a series of iconic motifs, original patterns, and characters such as the “APE HEAD,” “BAPE® CAMO,” and “BABY MILO,” and more.
With over 40 stores globally, BAPE® is recognized as a symbol of street fashion, standing as one of the most coveted and exclusive brands worldwide. To cater to a growing customer base, diffusion lines like “MR. BATHING APE,” “AAPE BY A BATHING APE®,” “BAPY®,” “APEE,” and “BAPE BLACK®” have been created as part of the brand’s continued growth across its expansive customer segments. Beyond apparel, BAPE® has embraced lifestyle landscape through art, furniture, toys, and more, allowing fans to experience the brand in different aspects of life. BAPE® has also pushed the boundaries of limitless ideation across different outlooks, successfully collaborating with established international brands and imprints, proving itself as an authoritative force in street fashion.
