Nigo and Bathing Ape

Written by bookofjoe
Published December 21, 2004

Wired magazine is where I became familiar with the term "street cred," and no one's got more of it than Nigo, creator of Bathing Ape urban street wear.

He started his business in 1993 when he was 22, with a hole-in-the-wall T-shirt shop in the Harajuku district of Tokyo, that city's equivalent of the Lower East Side of New York.

In a story by Lola Ogunnaike in yesterday's New York Times, he said, "when we first got there it was the quietest area of Tokyo, and now it's one of the coolest areas in Tokyo."

It's amazing what street cred can do for a street.

Bathing Ape's just opened a store in Manhattan's SoHo, the 16th outpost in its burgeoning empire which includes stores in Kyoto, Osaka, and London.

The stores are unmarked and intentionally made difficult to find, and sell clothes produced in carefully limited quantities to make them more scarce and, subsequently, more desirable.

Nigo also decrees that customers may buy only one piece of any product, and it must be in their size.

He said, "It's to help prevent people from selling the clothes on the black market. I really don't want a lot of people wearing my clothes."

His Bape (shorthand for Bathing Ape) shoes sell for around $300 a pair in Manhattan, though they're going to be priced at $180 in his new store.

Rappers Jay-Z, Cassidy and Pharrell have been wearing them around town and in their videos, making them all the more desirable to those whose desires run in this direction.

Here's a link to the Times story.

I was musing about Nigo and fashion and street cred and what's hot and what's not just now.

I mean, when something makes it into the New York Times, in a sense it's already over.

It's a little like the cover articles for Time, Fortune, and their ilk: when they herald the next big thing, the only thing you can be absolutely certain about is that the smart money has already been there and left.

The news that something is news is, actually, old news to those who made the best use of it.

Aristotle Onassis once said, "The secret of success in business is knowing something no one else knows."

True enough; of course, this is precisely what insider trading is all about.

Once everyone knows the secret, it's no longer a secret nor is it of much value.

Keep reading for information and comments on this article, and add some feedback of your own!
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Nigo and Bathing Ape
Published: December 21, 2004
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Writer: bookofjoe
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#1 — September 6, 2005 @ 17:55PM — Millionaire

Postal lottery: Turn $6 into $60,000 in 90 days, GUARANTEED

I found this in a news group and decided to try it. A little while back,
I was browsing through news groups and came
across a message just like this, that said you could make thousands of
dollars within weeks with only an initial investment of 6 dollar!!!

So I thought yeah right, this must be a scam!!! But like most of us, I
was curious, so I kept reading. Anyway, it said that you send $1.00 to
each of the 6 names and addresses stated in the message. You then place
your own name and address at the bottom of the list at #6 and post the
message in at least 200 news groups. (There are thousands). No catch,
that was it.

So after thinking it over, and talking to a few people first. I thought
about trying it. I figured, what have I got to lose except 6 stamps and
6 dollars, right? So I invested the measly 6 dollars!!! Guess what? Within 7
days I started getting money in the mail!!! I was shocked!!! I figured
it would end soon, but the money just kept coming in!!! In my first
week, I had made about $25.00. By the end of the second week, I had made
a total of over $1,000.00!!! In the third week, I had over $10,000.00
and it is still growing!!! This is now my fourth week and I have made a
total of just over $42,000.00 and it is still coming in rapidly!!! It's
certanly worth 6 dollars and 6 stamps!!! I have spent more than that on the
lottery!!!

Let me tell you how this works and most importantly, why it works!!!
Also, make sure you
print a copy of this message now. So you can get the information off of
it as you need it. I promise you that if you follow the directions
exactly, that you will start making more money than you thought possible
by doing something so easy!!!

Suggestion: Read this entire message carefully!!! (Print it out or
download it.) Follow the simple directions and watch the money come
in!!! It's easy!!! It's legal!!! Your investment is only 6 dollars (plus
postage).

IMPORTANT: This is not a rip-off!!! It is not
illegal!!! ? It is almost entirely risk free and it really works!!! If
all of the following instructions are adhered to, you will recieve
extraordinary dividends!!!

Please note: Follow these directions EXACTLY, and 60,000 dollars or more can
be yours in 20 to 90 days!!! This program remains successful because of
the honesty and the integrity of the participants!!! Please continue its
success by carefully adhering to the instructions.

You will now become part of the mail order business. In this business
your product is not solid or tangible, it is a service. You are in the
business of developing mailing lists. Many large corporations are happy
to pay big bucks for
quality lists. However, the money made from a mailing list is secondary
to the income which is made from people like you and me asking to be
included on your mailing list!!!

Here are the 4 easy steps to success:

Step 1: Get 6 seperate pieces of paper and write the following on each
piece of paper.

PLEASE PUT ME ON YOUR MAILING LIST

Now get 6 U.S. dollar bills and place ONE inside each of the 6 pieces of
paper so the bills will not be seen through the envelopes (to prevent
mail theft). Next, place one paper in each of the 6 envelopes and seal
them, you should now have 6 sealed envelopes. Each with a piece of paper
stating the above phrase, your name and address, and a $1.00 bill.
THIS IS ABSOLUTELY LEGAL!!! YOU ARE REQUESTING A LEGITIMATE SERVICE AND
YOU ARE PAYING FOR IT!!!

Like most of us, I was a little skeptical and a little worried about the
legal aspect of it all. So I checked it out with the U.S. Postal Service
and they confirmed that it is indeed legal!!!

Mail the 6 envelopes to the following addresses:


1) A.M.R.
23645 Cora
Brownstown, MI. USA 48183

2) K. Costello
20812 135 Ave SE
Kent, WA 98042 USA

3) B. Brown
1208 Steeple Ridge Ct
McKinney, Tx 75069 USA

4) M. Lussier
3112 133A Ave NW
Edmonton, AB
T5A 2Z8

5) O. Kutnik
205-237 Auburn DR
Waterloo, Ontario
N2K 4G9

6) R.P. Smith
7919 s. Troy
Chicago,IL 60652
USA

Step 2: Now take the #1 name off the list that you see above, move the
other names up (6 becomes 5, 5 becomes 4, etc.) and add your name as
number 6 on the list.

Step 3: Change anything you need to, but try to keep this message as
close to what you see as possible. Now, post your amended message to at
least 200 news groups. I think there are close to 24,000 groups!!! All
you need is 200, but remember, the more you post, the more money you
make!!! This is perfectly legal!! If you have any doubts, refer to
Title18 sec. 1302 & 1341 of the postal lottery laws. Keep a copy of
these steps for yourself and whenever you need money, you can use it
again.

Please remember that this program remains successful because of the
honesty and the integrity of the participants and by their carefully
adhering to the directions!!!

Look at it this way. If you are of integrity, the program will continue
and the money that so many others have recieved will come your way!!!

Note: You may want to retain every name and address sent to you, either
on your computer or hard copy and keep the notes people send you. This
verifies that you are truely providing a service. Also, it might be a
good Idea to wrap the $1 bills in dark paper to reduce the risk of mail
theft.

So, as each post is downloaded and the directions carefully followed,
six members will be reimbursed for their participation as a list
developer with one dollar each. Your name will move up the list
geometrically so that when your name reaches the #1 position, you will
be receiving thousands of dollars in cash!!! What an opportunity for
only 6 dollars!!! ($1.00
for each of the first six people listed above).

Send it now, add your own name to the list and your in business!!!

DIRECTIONS FOR HOW TO POST TO A NEWS GROUP!!!

Step 1: You do not need to re-type this entire message to do your own
posting. Simply put your cursor at the beginning of this message and
drag your cursor to the bottom of this message and select copy from the
edit menu. This will copy the entire message into the computer memory.

Step 2: Open a blank note pad file and place your cursor at the top of
the blank page. From
the edit menu select paste. This will paste a copy of the message into
notepad so that you
can add your name to the list.

Step 3: Save your new notepad file as a txt file. If you want to do your
posting in a different setting, you'll always have this file to go back
to.
Step 4: Use netscape or Internet Explorer and try searching for various
news groups (on-line forums, message boards, chat sites, discussions,
etc.)

Step 5: Visit these message boards and post this message as a new
message by highlighting the text of this message from your notepad and
selecting paste from the edit menu. Fill in the subject, this will be
the header that everybody sees as they scroll through the list of
postings in a particular group. Click the post message button. You've
done your first one! Congratulations!!! All You have to do is jump to
different news groups and post away, after you get the hang of it, it
will take about 30 seconds for each news group!

REMEMBER, THE MORE NEWS GROUPS YOU POST IN, THE MORE MONEY YOU WILL
MAKE!!!! (But you have to post a minimum of 200).

Thats it!!! You will begin receiving money from around the world within
days!!! You may eventually want to rent a P.O. Box due to the large
amount of mail you will receive. If you
wish to stay anonymous, you can invent a name to use, as long as the
postman will deliver it.

JUST MAKE SURE ALL THE ADDRESSES ARE CORRECT!!!

Now the why part. Out of 200 postings, say you recieve only 5 replies (a
very low example). So then you made $5.00 with your name at #6 on the
letter. Now, each of the 5 persons who sent you $1.00 make the minimum
200 postings, each with your name at #5 and only 5 persons respond to
each of the original 5, that is another $25.00 for you. Now those 25
each make 200 MINIMUM posts with your name at #4 and only 5 replies
each, you will bring in an additional $125.00!!!! Now, those 125 persons
turn around and post the minimum 200 with your name at #3 and only
recieve 5 replies each, you will make an additonal 625 dollars!!! OK, now
here is the fun part, each of those 625 persons post a minimum 200
messages with your name at #2 and they each only recieve 5 replies, that
just made you $3,125.00!!! Those 3,125 persons will all deliver this
message to 200 news groups, If just 5 more reply you will receive
$15,625.00!!! All with an original investment of only 6 dollars!!! Amazing
isn't it!!!! When your name is no longer on the list, you just take the
latest posting in the news groups and send out another 6 dollars to the
names on the list, putting your name at number 6 again.

You must realize that thousands of people all over the world are joining
the internet and reading these messages every day!!! Just like you are
now!!! So, can you afford $6.00 and see if it really works? I'm glad I
did!!! People have said, "what if the plan is played out and no one
sends you the money?" So what!!! What are the chances of that happening,
when there are tons of new honest users and new honest people who are
joining the internet and news groups everyday and are willing to give it
a try? Estimates are at 20,000 to 50,000 new users, every day!!!

#2 — September 8, 2006 @ 10:22AM — marco nixon

man i love this dude his shoes his style he is my idol 4 real no lie i thought i had my shoe game up until i seen the picture of nigo in front of the rolce royce man NIGO GET AT ME

#3 — October 30, 2006 @ 04:00AM — Bape Fan [URL]

Nice article, thanks for your work.

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