Streetwear brands like BAPE include Human Made, Billionaire Boys Club, Neighborhood, WTAPS, Cav Empt, #FR2, Supreme, Stüssy, Palace and Undefeated. Which of those is the right answer depends on what you actually like about A Bathing Ape, because the label sits at the meeting point of two different things: a specific Tokyo scene, and a loud, graphic, collectable way of doing streetwear. If what you want is the heavyweight cotton and the small-run feel rather than the camo and the logo, quieter independents such as Phrase Studios are worth a look too.
BAPE was founded in Tokyo in 1993 by Nigo and grew out of Ura-Harajuku, the back-street scene that reshaped Japanese street fashion in the nineties. The Ape Head, the camouflage, the full-zip shark hoodie and the tight, deliberately limited release model are what made it recognisable, and they are also what most people are really searching for when they type brands like BAPE. So this guide is split by the reason you are asking.
If you like BAPE because of Nigo
Nigo left BAPE in 2013, and the work he has done since is the closest thing there is to a direct continuation of his taste.
- Human Made is Nigo's own label, started in 2010. It trades the camo for vintage American workwear, sportswear and militaria, rebuilt in Japan with heavy fabrics and a lot of small detail. If you want the same eye applied to a calmer, more nostalgic wardrobe, start here. We go deeper in our guide to brands like Human Made.
- Billionaire Boys Club was founded in 2003 by Pharrell Williams and Nigo, along with its sister line Ice Cream. The space and astronaut motifs, the bright colour and the graphic-first approach come from exactly the same conversation as early BAPE.
Japanese labels from the same scene
Ura-Harajuku produced a whole set of brands that are still running, and several of them share BAPE's obsession with construction and controlled distribution while looking nothing like it.
- Neighborhood was founded in 1994 by Shinsuke Takizawa and builds around motorcycle culture, denim and military references. It is darker and more grown up than BAPE, and the making is a large part of the appeal.
- WTAPS, from Tetsu Nishiyama, reworks military and workwear uniforms into something restrained and very precise. Almost no graphics, a lot of pattern-cutting.
- Cav Empt, usually written C.E, is the closest of these to BAPE in spirit. It was founded in 2011 by the graphic designer known as Sk8thing, whose work runs through several of the defining Ura-Harajuku labels, and Toby Feltwell, and it puts dense, dystopian graphics on heavy printed cotton.
- #FR2, short for Fxxking Rabbits, sits on the loud, graphic side of the same lineage: a repeated rabbit motif, photography-led prints and a steady stream of collaborations.
If you want the wider picture rather than just the names next to BAPE, our roundup of the best Japanese streetwear brands covers the same territory in more depth.
The US and UK names from the same era
BAPE never existed in isolation. It traded ideas, and in some cases collaborations, with the Western brands that were building the same kind of queue-and-drop culture.
- Supreme opened in New York in 1994 under James Jebbia. The box logo, the weekly drop and the resale market around it are the American version of what BAPE was doing in Tokyo, and the two have collaborated more than once. See also brands like Supreme.
- Stüssy came first, out of Californian surf culture in the early eighties, and its graphics and international network shaped a lot of what followed in Japan. It is the calmest of the group and the easiest to wear every day.
- Palace started in London in 2009 around a skate crew, and pairs a strong logo with a sense of humour that BAPE fans usually get on with.
- Undefeated began in 2002 in Los Angeles as a sneaker store and became a brand of its own, sports-led and much more understated than its collaborations suggest.
If you want the weight, not the logo
There is a third group of people searching for this: people who like how a BAPE hoodie feels and how limited it is, but do not want to wear a large graphic. That points at small independent labels that put their money into cloth and construction instead of marketing.
Phrase Studios is one honest option there, and we should be clear that we are not a substitute for BAPE. We are an independent studio in Ghent, Belgium, founded in 2023, working under the line From friends, to friends. We release numbered chapters of heavyweight cotton in small runs that we do not restock, which is a different route to the same scarcity BAPE built its name on. Our hoodies and sweatshirts and tracksuits are where that weight is most obvious, and we call the lane we work in Lowlands streetwear: European, quiet, built to be worn rather than kept in a box.
None of these are straight swaps. BAPE has a graphic language and a history that no other label can hand you, and a shark hoodie is a shark hoodie. What you can find elsewhere is one part of it at a time: Nigo's taste at Human Made, the Tokyo making at Neighborhood and WTAPS, the graphic energy at Cav Empt and #FR2, the drop culture at Supreme and Palace, and the heavy cotton at a small studio like ours. Work out which part you were actually buying, and the shortlist gets much easier.
FAQ
What brand is most similar to BAPE?
Human Made is the closest, because it is run by Nigo, who founded BAPE in 1993 and left in 2013. It looks quite different, more vintage American workwear than camouflage, but the eye behind it is the same. If you mean visually similar rather than related, Cav Empt and #FR2 are nearer the mark.
Is BAPE still owned by Nigo?
No. BAPE was bought by the Hong Kong retail group I.T in 2011, and Nigo stepped away from the brand in 2013. He has since focused on his own label Human Made and taken on a creative role at Kenzo, so the brand and its founder have been on separate paths for over a decade.
What is a cheaper alternative to BAPE?
For the graphic side, Stüssy and Undefeated generally cost less than BAPE and neither feels like a copy. For the fabric side, small independent labels working in heavyweight cotton, ours included, tend to sit lower again, though what you get there is the weight and the fit rather than a recognisable graphic.
