Nigo: The Collector With An Untouchable Eye
Nigo (right) partnered with fashion friend Pharell Williams (left) on his new brand HUMAN MADE. Pharrell eventually became an official brand advisor alongside Brian Donelly of KAWS fame. (Credit: @humanmade)
Few figures in contemporary culture embody the word tastemaker quite like Nigo. The Japanese designer, DJ, and founder of A Bathing Ape (BAPE) has built a career not only on shaping streetwear, but on curating a lifestyle where art, fashion, and design collide with effortless cool. His taste is so highly regarded that the objects he surrounds himself with have become as legendary as the clothes he creates.
Inside the BAPE Apartment, Nigo’s world comes into focus: Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans and Marilyn Monroe portraits line the walls, vintage jukeboxes hum with nostalgia, and mid-century modern chairs form intimate gathering spaces. Yet at the center of it all hangs a piece of French grandeur — the Baccarat Zenith Chandelier. The crystal masterpiece glows above this eclectic mix, its timeless refinement both contrasting and complementing the riot of pop culture around it.
That chandelier says everything about Nigo’s eye. He sees connections where others see opposites, elevating both the classic and the contemporary through context. In his hands, a Baccarat chandelier isn’t just a symbol of heritage luxury — it becomes part of a new cultural dialogue, one that places it beside Warhol and rock ’n’ roll.
The infamous BAPE living room adorned with a Baccarat Zenith Chandelier. The BAPE Apartment blends the brand's love for popart with subtle quality elements that gives the space a young and colourful energy. (Credit for 2 images above & cover image: @jimmy.cohrssen.)
It’s this instinct — the ability to make high and low, past and present, feel like they were always meant to be together — that makes Nigo more than a designer. He is a true tastemaker, the kind who defines style across generations. Despite leaving his own brand BAPE in 2013, Nigo has continued to showcase his versatility and artistic acumen by being the creative/artistic directors for brands including Uniqlo UT, Kenzo, and even our Australian favourite Penfolds!
(Credits: Penfolds.)
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