Has A Bathing Ape created a monster by controlling their brand distribution to the point of inertia? Bape clothing and Bapesta Sneakers are controlled and channeled to such an extend that demand far outstrips supply and it now appears the natural conclusion of this strategy is to spawn a lucrative underground industry of genuinely desired fakes. In fact, this parasitic “sub-brand”, has its own name “FAPE” instead of BAPE and “Fapesta” instead of Bapesta! What’s even more incredible is the FAPE parasitic sub-brand is undoubtedly a more lucrative business than the authentic BAPE host-brand.
Makers of FAPE Clothing and Fapestas have refined their art so perfectly that even the most dedicated Bape aficionado would be hard pressed to discern the difference between FAPE and BAPE! There’s a real lesson here for the rest of the fashion industry; you can’t hype and burn and expect no consequences!
If FAPE is fake BAPE is Furberry fake Burberry! Just a thought.
I am sick of doing hours of searching for these brands! It’s like these people don’t understand how to do business.
Carlton – do you work for Nigo at Bape then?
how do u spot the bapes frm the fapes?
Fapes are actually easy to spot out. First, Nigo and A Bathing Ape keep 100% lockdown on thier product, ur not gunna be able to find any reel Bapes online (besides eBay); and if u do use eBay its at your own risk. Second, the price. If its a real bape its gunna be like 300 bucks, if its not even close to that then most likely its fake. Third, if all else fails just find a picture of a real Bape Sta shoe and compare it to a shoe your looking to buy and check basic things. The star should be perfect, the fake ones tend to be sloppy, the points are stubby and they are not semetrical. Besides the star the all around stiching should be perfect, if im gunna shell out 300 for a pair of not even limeted edish sneaks they better be elite! but Nigo is a smart bastard with his minipulation techniques and im totally down for wearing A Bathing Fape.
o, and one more thing. BAPE DOES NOT MAKE ANY CLEAR SHOES. thats just SUPER fake, and tacky… def not down w/ that.
you can spot real bapes from fake ones is the star, usually fake bapes hav a larger gap inbetween the star and the “APE” is coloured at the back of the shoe. Also, the tounge of the shoe is a consistent 1 colour
are the spider man bapes real or fake
where can i find bapes in L.A.
There is a guy in our neighbor that sells Bapes. They must be fake, he is asking 50 bucks for them. I never realized that the real ones cost around 400 bucks.
Thanks for the comments!
I actually work a few doors down from the BAPE store in SoHo in Manhattan, which is what led me to google Bape and how I ended up on this web page. Anyway, for the last two days I have watched enormous lines form at the store, before they open, of people waiting to get the new Tiger something or other sweatshirts. I went up to a few kids in line, and asked them what the deal was and they wouldn’t tell me. Finally, someone who wasn’t an overweight nerd told me what was for sale, and explained that the other kids wouldn’t talk to me because they were afraid I would get in the line and buy something, thus diminishing its’ coolness. That’s absolutely insane. I understand limiting the channels your clothes are sold through to a point, but honestly, Nigo is just creating a culture of bad vibes. Basically the whole Bape thing has become a weapon that kids use to enforce their coolness on others. They say, ‘My bape is real, yours is bootleg’, and they use this to judge each other. It’s shallow and brings out the worst in people, it’s very sad. I watch this from where I work all day long, and I hear kids having these conversations. What suck for me, is I have one of the very first Bape hoodies, that I received as a gift from a Japanese designer friend of mine a few years back,and I’m embarrassed to wear it because of all this terrible phenomenon surrounding it. Too bad, as I actually like the way the clothes look and I think the design work is top notch.
I WEAR FAPE, BECAUSE I LIKE HOT DOGS
Hello emily,
i’m french i’ve just discovered this website and i’m very surprised to see that the bape phenomen is not only prodiucing in france. I want to say that i’m agree with you, i wear bape, i like this brand (it’s very cool) but you’re totally right, it’s creating a very bad vibe.
But i can’t tell if Nigo is guilty or not because he seems to doesn’t care about money, even if his mark is very expensive and promoted by famous people, anyway he’s currently losing many parts of market without opening more bape stores, if it’s that what he wants, i’m okey, but it’s real that people who don’t talk about bape, like if it was the “fight club” are a little stupid (and i am too) but it’s also understandable, everyone who’s wearing bape doesn’t want to see another people with the same clothes because there really originals but it’s true it’s giving a bad way of thinking.
All the thing i can say is that “the way of underground”.
i got 7 pair and i paid a grand total of 2450 for them all at school im known as bape man and i pisses me off to have someone come to me and say man look i got bapes like you dont order fake bapes period point and blank
There must be a hole load of rich kids in Soho, Manhattan because in London there are 2 Bape shops and they are the only places here you can get authentic Bape clothing but no-one around me can afford Bape even though they love the clothing, Nigo needs to reduce his prices and if he does that watch how Bape clothing will be on people like sports clothing i.e. Nike. You will see Bape everywhere you go every day without a doubt even if you just look at your window. That should be Nigo’s dream but i think he is more about the money.
you can tell it is fake if the sewing on the arms does NOT go down diagnolly from the shoulder to the airpit. fakes go straight down
I bought a shiiitload of fape online for the price of a pair of real bape shoes, i could give a shiiit less about the authenticity, i only like the design, not the price tags, plus no one around here wears bape anyway, so no noe will ever know. The shiiit is pretty quality too.
ive been looking all over da net didnt find shiiite! kinda sucks
okay, firstly that Tyler man is retarded, because he himself owns a pair of fakes, just look.
it’s the big chunky-ness of the tail of the star that gives that mother father away right off the bat.
I believe Nigo is a marketing genius. he made the brand legendary by putting every release in limited runs, and the addition of fakes just makes people want the real deal even more.
I personally buy what I like, I love color, and bape just matches up perfectly with my taste.
I agree with Jace.
Ive bought Fapes now for about 2 years – there is no chance of getting th real thing here in Australia at all??
My folks are returning back from hong kong tomorrow – and too my surprise my mum called me on friday saying she was in the the Busy works store and what would i want??
Couldn’t believe it!
No one in my town has any idea about BAPE or ICE cream or whatever… i dont care… when i slip on my fapes… just just get buried into something bigger…
cant wait to see what the real thing is like.
shallow..maybe? enjoying it,,, Fck yeah!
i rock fape and ill bust any n*gga sayin otherwise
Whats the best and easiest way to tell a fake from an original oair of Bapes?
i know where you can get fake bapes for only 35$ and the more you get the cheaper it is you can get like 10 shoes and hoodies for 300 the price of 1
where do we find these “Fapes”?
i want one
cause i really don’t feel like spending 400 bucks
i already have a makeup addiction
i don’t need another one
where or what website can i buy fapes?!
IM me on aim my screen name is (phrakshun)
or just reply
what up
all the people buying fapes truly just want bape
they can’t honestly say they would say no if i asked them if they wanted my captain america bapes for free..or any other one of my AUTHENTIC bapes for that matter
get money spend money stay fly
dont buy fapes!
Could you please help me out. Could someone point out some legit websites selling Fapes. By saying legit , i mean a website with verification that its loyal etc. Thank you in advance
Hey guys whats with the hunt for the Fapes? the genuine ones are only 200 bucks which I think isn’t too bad for the quality of the shoes. I totally hammered a green pair over the last 6 months and they still look fantastic. I got quite a bit of the Bape stuff now and I feel that the design work and workman ship is outstanding. I would not buy Fape purely because it undermines the uniqueness of the genuine stuff and I feel its like illegally downloaded music ie you love the song but don’t wanna give the creator some money for his hard work. Btw all Bape clothing is limited edition! They only make so many of each colour way and its never repeated, also there is only three shops outside Japan so that limits the stock of each as well. Thats not including the Bapexclusive shop in Hong Kong which only sells to members and celebrities.
There hundreds of reasons to buy the real Bape including the support of real wages in developing countries but only one for buying Fapes.
I think that the right choice to go genuine.
And no I don’t think that people should feel its a competition for who’s got genuine/fape or who’s get the most limited edition I feel that its a nice indicator to people of your tastes and I for one feel good when I see someone else wearing Bape its like a internationally understood language and an excellent ice breaker.
And don’t even get me started on the whole philosophy behind the saying “A Bathing Ape”
Word
F YALL…GET UR WEIGHT UP BUY SOME REAL BAPES
were can i get some fake bapes at in buffalo NY
I THINK THERE ARE GOOD SHOES AND THEY 1’V OF KIND I NO THERE LIKE $300 N IT KINDA SENDS A BAD VIBE TOWARDS OTHER PEOPLE LIKE MY NEPWHEW I BOUGHT HIM A PAIR EAL BAPES THEY WERE $450 AND HE WEARS THEM TO SCHOOL N PEOPLE TELL HIM THERE FAPES SO STABLED THE RECPIT TO HIS BACKPAK AND SHOWS EVERYONE NEWAYZ IM GOIN TO NEWYORK THIS OCTOBER AND BUYING SUM BAPES
Ayoo ya gotta stop complaining bouyt fapes n get some real bapes
dey only like 200 buks. So step ur game up n get legit bapes or jus stick wit da uppies. Oh ya n da dudue dat made bapes is a genius sellin his stuff limited edition. It makes it harder to get n makes eryone else who dont got bapes want em more. I got like 3 pair a real bapes from dis addres.
91 greene street, Soho new york
DIZ IS DA REAL BAPE STORE!
As with any product, there is always a knock-off…personally, I’d rather keep 350 in my pocket, spend 50 bucks, and still look exactly like the person wearing the “real” item…honestly, what’s really real or fake…we only spend money on the NAME…and with knock-offs, you are spending it on the actual design. Shoes and clothing are all the same…they are made the same, worn the same…so why not spend less. Plus…there are professional boosters out there lol ( not one of them) and they actually steal the “real” item and sale it for cheap…so you might be getting a ” real” item…
and p.s….the only person gaining from wearing BAPES are the BAPE company…you arent getting a profit for promoting wear of these shoes, lol so calm down…let people wear FAPES or BAPES…I say, the smarter people are the ones that buy the knock-offs and still have money in their pocket…however, when I lunch my clothing line…I’d prefer we ALL buy the real items…lol
AMEN JJ. PREACH ON
bapes are fake nikes
thats bull shit, any real collector can tell fapes a mile off
All of you that buy/wear fake clothing and think it’s OK
have a fooked up Mentality! It’s not OK to wear fake clothing
even if nobody can tell. You all need to be reprogrammed because
it’s people like you that choose the easy way or cheap way to
obtain things, be it clothing or government… People like you
don’t support the brand but support the look of “now”. For all
of you that are of voting age, please don’t vote this time around.
If you can’t even seek out the real product’s or truths in your
personal life… How can you do it for a country with your voting
rights? All you fake wearing fools are liars.. you may not lie to
your friends or family, but you lie to yourselves. So how can
anything you say be of value?
well I just wanna say I luv the bape brand yet as much as fape’s are bad, people like me that live in Australia and other places were bape shops are not avalibe have a huge problem wif buying real bapes, srsly there aint one shop that I think even sells real bape! we have to go to like the markets in lil stalls and buy fapes! eny ways the moeny factor 2! if a place like Australia had a bape shop just imagin the price of real bapes! already some FAPEs in Australia are very exspensive and hard to come by and wen some of my fam went back to NY, there were a lot of FAPEs at just eny random store that were cheaper than in Australia
let me break it down 4 you:
Australian jackets FAPE – $80 – $299
USA Bx jackets FAPE – $30 – $70
srsly Im not proud of Fapes yet I aint got eny other option from were I’m from, but srsly I can’t tell the diff that much, good luck wif bapes crack down on fapes!
All I’m hearing from here is blah blah blah fape is cheap blah blah blah I’d rather have blah blah anybody who ain’t rockin da real shite is lame blah blah blah I spent 400 dollars on my hoodie this lame only spent 50.
Yo real talk, get out of here with all that. Ya’ll just gotta leave yall little bubble and look at the real world. Not all people can even afford some old J’s so how they gonna pay over 3 Bill’s for some shoes when they got bills that need to be paid. To the people thats buying BAPE mo power to you, to the people thats not really getting by and can’t afford all this it’s ok to rock FAPES. Also..how in da hell can you compare buying clothes with voting?? Like we gonna see G. Bush rockin some COOGI…or even some Sean John for that fact.
Anyways, people who wear fakes AREN’T LIARS..if anybody a liar its the people who try to act like they got it all and spend all they little checks on the “latest” fashion. If you BROKE YOUR BROKE…don’t be sitting at home in the dark freezing cause you decided to go shopping instead of paying ya bills, ya digg.
Wow you people are sad
if you cant spend 200 on shoes once in your life you might as well amputate your legs off sell em, nd buy LEGIT bape with the money you got for em just to stare at them
ive lost all respect for any piece of sh*t who wears fapes
its ppl like you that are trying to destory people like me who wear legit bapes and trust me your not the only ones that know you rock fapes
Why do you people bother about talking down on people who buy FAPES. Its their decision, what u say wont make a difference cos their gonna buy it anyway, and good for them cause at those ridiculous prices your better off keeping extra money in your pocket. Get a life for god sake – theres more important things in life then trainers. Whether they are fake or not makes no bloody difference. If you have the money to buy the legits then GOOD FOR YOU. No one cares how much you payed for them you egotistical narcissists.
PS: Mr truth – WHAT THE HELL HAS THE GOVERNMENT AND VOTING SYSTEM GOT DO WITH WHETHER U BUY FAKE TRAINERS OR NOT (sad people in this world, honestly).
phuck bape and that phucking douche bag nigo, no one cares whos got bapes or fapes, youre not going to phucking jail and its not phucking ilegal… so go ahead buy fapes rather than “looking fly” (wasting youre money on that bag nigo) whos coughing up millions.
i bought fukin heaps of fake bapes for fukin nothin and everyone i know says they’re real and i just show em the tag which is exactly the same as the real ones and they are like, ” yep its real” and i am the fukin king and screw the real bapes i like the fake ones better anyway, all u idiots payin full price are fukin stupid, it costs them like $10 to make real ones anyway hahahahahahahhaha idiots
muff is right those shoes in all reality only cost 10 or 15 bucks to make, all they do is hustle u and get $450-$1000 for them lol. Personally i think they look kinda gay with all that color i mean stick to the best which is AF1’s. Buy a pair of black or white, u can never go wrong with those plus they just cost $80-$100
P.S. Nelly’s song about AF1’s is wayyyyy better than Soulja Boy’s song (Mayne i got me sum bathing ape, like 10 MILLION TIMES HE SAYS THAT!!!!!!!!!) Soulja boy plz….You and your bapes can SUPAMAN your ass outta here AF1’s are here to stay and keep it pimpin and fresh!^___^
All the people who bought real bapes are sooooooo pissed now cause they found out they can get the same shit for a waaaaaaaaaaay cheaper price.
i bought fapes back in the day without even knowing. I didn’t know bapes went for a lot of money and ended up spending $200 for a t-shirt, hoody, jeans and a hat. I felt like a fraud after I found out. I donated the clothes to the salvation army cuz I didn’t want to wear it, but this was back when telling the difference between bapes and fapes was easier. I picked up a ‘Bape’ hoody off of ebay for about $300 (bday gift) a year later thinking it was legit but it turns out it wasn’t but was incredibly hard to tell otherwise. The seller no longer exists (surprise, surprise) but i’ve realized that I don’t care. Kanye and Nigo and Pharell can wear thousand dollar ‘athletic/urban’ outfits and rather than inspire their fans, they make them turn on each other to get the next best thing. NO ONE is talking about bapes now as much as they used to. It’s just another trend, Nigo made his money. He’s smart, I’ll give him that much, but I fell for the hype and got burned. Oh well, chalk it up to experience and do your own thing cuz the last thing you want to do is fall in line with everyone else just to be cool. It’s a search for approval from your peers that no one needs and only serves to reinforce your insecurities. If you’re a collector, that’s cool too. But don’t tell me to keep it real by buying a $400 hoody when I’m trying to save up for a condo down payment. Thanks anyway.
Man- I remember when these jackets and shoes where the hype even before famous rappers caught on. All I wanted when I was younger was one of those jackets that zipped up the hood. I look back now and I don’t see one Nor*Cal shorty caught dead in them- because they’re all afraid that it’s Fape! Other younger friends tell me that the style has been played out for a while!
But yeah- keeping something so exclusive breeds yet another opiate for the masses. (I.e.: Folex’s, Printed CK1 tees, super bright Jordan 3’s lol, etc…)
I know i get a late pass on discussing this topic but regardless I believe wearing fake anything is a no-go and thats not because I want to be an elitist saying that someone is better than someone else since he/she is wearing legit items. But there definitely is something wrong with people buying fake merchandise. The bottom line is if you cant afford something, don’t buy it…its that simple. Don’t seek a fake imitation of that which you can’t find or afford. As some of the previous posters said, they have other priorities other than 300 shoes. If thats the case, why even spend the 50 or however much these shit quality fapes cost if you have bills to pay and mouths to feed. You are in fact buying something that is not real first of all, and is horrible quality. Live life to your capabilities and standards and if theres something you can’t get at the moment… that makes it that much more of a moment when you actually save up or are able to buy a pair of bape sneakers rather than stooping to buy fakes. And limited run clothing or products are done by all companies, its a business strategy. And for those who support fakes you need to re-evaluate why you are buying fakes and these things in the first place.