These Are 15 of The Rarest Pieces From NIGO’s Retrospective

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A special exhibition showcasing the work of NIGO, the first of its kind outside of Japan, has launched at the Design Museum in London.

The exhibition “NIGO: From Japan With Love” features hundreds of rare and previously unseen items from NIGO’s personal collection, as well as special loans from brands like Kenzo and Louis Vuitton. It’s a fascinating look at a unique collection.

The exhibition offers a look back at NIGO’s life and work, starting with a recreation of his childhood bedroom and culminating in a tea house inspired by his present-day life, filled with ceramics.

Curator Esme Hawes told TopMob they already knew NIGO had an extensive fashion collection, but they were surprised by just how much he owned when they visited his Tokyo studio.

We collaborated closely with Nigo to choose the stories for the exhibition, as many of them haven’t been written down and exist only as stories he personally remembers.

Ahead of the show’s opening, curator Esme Hawes and NIGO selected 15 objects that you can’t miss.

507XX Jacket, Levi’s

This pair of Levi’s jeans was the very first vintage item NIGO bought as a teen. It’s a 1986 model, and he wore it constantly. It’s well-loved – patched, faded, and showing its age – and really shows how much NIGO cares about clothes, especially vintage pieces, and how much he enjoys collecting them.

Whizit dungarees, Lee, 1927

These overalls are a prized possession in NIGO’s vintage clothing collection and hold a special place in workwear history. They were the first of their kind to feature a zipper instead of traditional hook closures. Lee even ran a contest to find the perfect name, and ‘Whizit’ – inspired by the sound of the zipper – won. The overalls quickly became popular thanks to celebrity support and clever marketing, like at the 1927 National Corn Huskers Contest where eight out of ten winners were wearing them.

Work caps

NIGO is inspired by the durable, workwear clothing from America’s industrial era. He particularly appreciates how these garments were designed to be functional and used new materials, which heavily influences his brand, HUMAN MADE. The collection includes work caps from the 1930s through the 1960s—including a rare Carhartt cap from the 1930s—and these caps are a staple in NIGO’s own everyday wardrobe.

First ever NOWHERE shopping bag

NIGO and Jun Takahashi, who became friends while studying at Bunka Fashion College, launched the store NOWHERE on April 1st, 1993. The shop was divided by a mesh fence, with one side dedicated to Takahashi’s UnderCover fashion line and the other featuring NIGO’s curated collection of American sportswear. The name is a playful nod to both The Beatles’ song ‘Nowhere Man’ and the phrase ‘NOW HERE’. Embracing a do-it-yourself approach, they hand-stamped logos onto all the boxes and bags, like this one.

NOWHERE store signboard, 1993

This sign is a piece of history from the original NOWHERE store in Harajuku. NOWHERE is significant because it’s where Nigo first launched A Bathing Ape – the brand he’s most famous for.

NOWHERE 3rd anniversary gift box, 1996

NOWHERE celebrated its anniversaries with special merchandise boxes, showing that the founders quickly understood the shop’s importance in popular culture. These boxes weren’t just limited to books; they also included items like T-shirts, posters, toys, and stickers. The packaging for the 3rd anniversary box hinted at the fun and playful style that would become a signature of NIGO’s work.

‘A-Bomb T-shirt’, BAPE 1993

A Bathing Ape’s first collection included a limited run of jackets and T-shirts—so few, in fact, that only five of each were initially produced. This 1993 T-shirt, known to collectors as the ‘A-Bomb T-shirt,’ is one of the earliest BAPE designs. It features artwork by Sk8thing and a unique ‘Boombox tag’ that appeared only on these original pieces.

BAPE early era nylon jacket

In the early days, BAPE was very hands-on and often produced only small batches of items – sometimes as few as five, according to assistant curator Rosa Abbott. This limited production was partly due to NIGO’s capacity, but it also made the items highly sought after, Abbott explains.

So, NIGO was telling me about this jacket – it’s actually the very first thing The Face magazine ever featured! Apparently, Futura, this amazing graffiti artist from the US, was rocking it when we first met in Tokyo. He’d actually picked it up while he was in London, which is a cool detail.

Ape Map of Harajuku, 1996

In the mid-1990s, A Bathing Ape grew and opened more stores in Tokyo, including hidden shops marked on a special ‘Ape map’. One of these, called ‘Concept’, carried exclusive items you couldn’t find anywhere else.

BAPE Camo shirt

The original BAPE Camo design was created because NIGO, the brand’s founder, wanted a signature pattern – similar to the iconic Louis Vuitton monogram. He chose camouflage, and in 1996, the ‘1st Camo’ was born. This initial design was a unique take on classic cloud camo, featuring a distorted ape head and an olive green color scheme inspired by the US Marine ‘Duck Hunter’ pattern. Over the years, this print has been used on a huge range of products, from sneakers and everyday items like toilet paper and stationery, to furniture and even vintage cars.

The rapper Biggie Smalls, also known as The Notorious B.I.G., helped make BAPE’s camouflage pattern famous worldwide. BAPE created oversized, custom clothing for him, but sadly, he passed away in 1997 before he could receive it.

BAPE early era Sweatshirts

The very first BAPE designs appeared on Camber sweatshirts and included a special ‘Boombox’ tag. Seeing that boombox tag means you’ve found a rare, extremely early piece of BAPE clothing, as only a handful of designs ever used it.

BAPE Pepsi cans

I remember when NIGO had the amazing idea to team up with Pepsi back in 2001! It was such a cool move for BAPE, and honestly, it really opened the door for other fashion brands to work with big companies like Pepsi. He wanted to put his signature camo pattern all over Pepsi cans, which was genius because it introduced BAPE to a whole new group of people. And the best part? They only cost a few cents! They were the cheapest way to get your hands on BAPE stuff back then, and they instantly became collectibles. Even now, a lot of us hardcore BAPE fans are still trying to track down those original cans!

HUMAN MADE ‘Yokosuka Jumper’ souvenir jacket

This jacket was one of the first designs NIGO created for HUMAN MADE. It’s based on his personal collection of vintage sukajan jackets, keeping the classic flight jacket shape. However, he updated the traditional animal designs with a modern, futuristic twist – the bears are styled like rockets. The embroidery is layered on top of printed designs, adding extra detail and texture.

Varsity jacket, Nike × NIGO, 2024

In 2024, Nike collaborated with NIGO to create a special line of Air Force III sneakers and apparel. This specific design was a limited-edition colorway made only for NIGO’s friends and family and wasn’t available to the public.

Varsity jacket, Nike × NIGO, 2024

In 2025, NIGO teamed up with Levi’s and Nike to create a special edition of the classic Air Force III low trainers, made with denim. The advertising campaign included a life-size cutout of NIGO dressed as a denim cowboy, a nod to vintage Levi’s wooden advertising figures he’d collected from the 1940s and 50s.

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2026-04-28 14:56