Japanese fashion has been one of the best-kept secrets in menswear for ages, but even unconsciously, it’s hard to not notice its influence in current trends. Yoon Ahn, founder of brand AMBUSH, has stated that the streetwear and skate culture she was exposed to in the 90s and early 2000s underlie all her creations to this day.

Lately, it’s become clear than more people are getting interested in Japanese streetwear archives, yet not many would expect that it was in a small neighbourhood in Tokyo that streetwear, as we know it today, was born.

Whenever we think of Japan, the first thought that crosses our minds is its high reputation for cleanliness, structure, and overall rigour. The country is indeed ranked as the best to live in the world, only second to Switzerland.

NIGO and Jun Takahashi for Last Orgy 2 (1990s)

Names such as Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto, and Junya Watanabe still dominate headlines for being pioneers in fashion thanks to their disruptive vision that has largely influenced garments as we know them today, combining fiber technology and sportwear constructions with a Japanese ethos.

In the same country, not so far from the high fashion hub mentioned above, perhaps yet in broad daylight, a burgeoning streetwear wave known as “Urahara” or Hidden Harajuku was birthed in the late 90s, 13 time zones ahead of its cousin in the East Coast, yet tuned on the same wavelength.

For these Japanese designers in the 90s, fashion was understood as an organic relationship with their activities and that ended up forming a tribe of like-minded people whose vast culture and appreciation for fashion can be perceived from their garments: this is how Urahara came to life.

In the very beginning, Urahara was densely populated by small boutiques, each having its own personal style while also taking inspiration from the West. Thanks to this very cross-referencing of domestic and foreign culture, the stores in Urahara were able to create a new movement among the young kids wearing school uniforms every day.

Trading the old for the new.

“THEY UNDERSTOOD AND TRANSLATED WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN LONDON AND NEW YORK IN A WAY THAT WAS UNDERSTANDABLE FOR THE YOUTH IN JAPAN. (…) YOU CAN PERHAPS UNDERSTAND HOW A CREATIVE GROUP OF KIDS CAN TURN A SMALL T-SHIRT COMPANY INTO A MILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS”

— JEY PERIE WHILE WORKING WITH BEDWIN & THE HEARTBREAKERS

Nigo and Jun Takahashi, with a shared interest in fashion, music and western culture, formed a friendship which led to the birth of retail store NOWHERE in 1993, anonymous to those who weren’t part of the new born subculture. NOWHERE was split in two departments, one selling the brand Undercover by Takahashi and the other half was for Nigo's A Bathing Ape graphic shirts. Another iconic store opened soon after, Neighborhood by Shinzuke Takizawa, who channeled his passion for American heavy-metal and motorcycles into his brand, named in honor of the physical neighborhood of Urahara.

Who are the faces behind the magic and how influential have they been to streetwear?

Jun Takahashi, founder of Undercover, was heavily inspired by his passion for punk-rock leading him to take inspiration from Vivienne Westwood and her husband Malcolm McLaren, manager of Sex Pistols.

He later teamed up with Japanese streetwear godfather, DJ and member of the International Stüssy Tribe, Hiroshi Fujiwara (who actually met McLaren in London and took his advice to visit New York in order to explore hip-hop culture) to create Anarchy Forever Forever Anarchy (AFFA) in 1994, all set on Takahashi’s personal fixation on punk music and often featuring graphic prints, mixed typography screen-printed over military-influenced garments, patchwork jeans.

The brand Undercover later debuted at Paris Fashion Week in 2002, while Takahashi has been collaborating on many projects with western names. One of his most notable collaboration is the NikeLab x Undercover Gyakusou running shoes collection which has become one of Nike’s longest collaborative lines thanks to Takahashi’s practical designs.

“I WANTED TO MAKE PUNK ELEGANT. IT WAS NATURAL FOR ME TO INTERPRET MUSIC OR MOVIES THAT I GREW UP WITH — THAT SHAPED ME. I WAS ALWAYS INTERESTED IN REBELLION. SO, I DECIDED TO MAKE CLOTHES THAT ARE NOT MERELY BEAUTIFUL; I WANTED TO INTERPRET CULTURE INTO FASHION.”

— JUN TAKAHASHI INTERVIEWED BY BUSINESS OF FASHION

Starting from the same store, but with different interests there was Nigo and A Bathing Ape (BAPE), with the brand’s original name being “A Bathing Ape in Lukewarm Water” coming from a Japanese saying describing someone living a comfortable and sheltered life, which was a light-hearted jab at their fashionable yet spoilt teenage customers. The brand selling graphic tees has since then been endorsed by some of the most influential figures in the 2000s rap scene, such as Kanye West, Soulja Boy (peak at I Got Me Some Bapes) and even earlier by The Notorious Big.

BAPE Camo, the brand’s original pattern, is as recognizable as the LV logo just like Nigo had wanted. The pattern in the form of a camouflage print with ape heads hidden within it is inspired by the frog skin camouflage originated in WW2, although now the camouflage doesn’t hide, but rather makes it hard to ignore whoever is wearing it.

By 1998 the brand was stocked in around 40 locations across Japan until all wholesale operations were cancelled by Nigo. Sales surpassed their previous levels without showing signs of decreasing anything soon and thus the fundamental streetwear formula of hype, scarcity and public spectacle was born.

Funnily enough, at first the brand0s scarcity was due to financial necessities – Nigo started out on a tight budget and couldn’t produce more than 50 T-shirts a week.

In the early 2000s, Nigo created the Bape Sta which, to those not familiar with the brand, could appear as a pair of bootleg Nike’s Air Force 1. The resemblance between the two shoes is uncanny, however this is not to be seen as pure plagiarism but rather an example of the meta-referential methods that guided early streetwear, and therefore an homage to them.

International Stüssy Tribe pose for the first annual World Chapter gathering via CUTiE magazine (1990)

Through Fujiwara’s international network of International Stüssy Tribe and Nigo’s connection with James Lavelle of UNKLE & Mo’Wax records, Urahara fashion was quickly established as a cultural tastemaker in Tokyo. All these names that were unknown to the greater public but idolized by a minority in the West, were soon to become the most sought.

Streetwear brands by nature have short life cycles. If they grow they invariably lose what once made them special and if they don't grow they fade away. All the once heavy hitters listed above became commercial and no longer were representative of a small neighborhood in Japan as they gained a global following, thus losing their subcultural roots. In a way, it’s as if Urahara came full circle: its main inspirations were primarily taken from once emerging subcultures that dissolved – or perhaps got dissected – in the mainstream, and its destiny has been the same.

Urahara Mon Amour: The Comeback of Japanese Streetwear

Lately, it’s become clear than more people are getting interested in Japanese streetwear archives, yet not many would expect that it was in a small neighbourhood in Tokyo that streetwear, as we know it today, was born.

Whenever we think of Japan, the first thought that crosses our minds is its high reputation for cleanliness, structure, and overall rigour. The country is indeed ranked as the best to live in the world, only second to Switzerland.

Names such as Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto, and Junya Watanabe still dominate headlines for being pioneers in fashion thanks to their disruptive vision that has largely influenced garments as we know them today, combining fiber technology and sportwear constructions with a Japanese ethos.

In the same country, not so far from the high fashion hub mentioned above, perhaps yet in broad daylight, a burgeoning streetwear wave known as “Urahara” or Hidden Harajuku was birthed in the late 90s, 13 time zones ahead of its cousin in the East Coast, yet tuned on the same wavelength.

For these Japanese designers in the 90s, fashion was understood as an organic relationship with their activities and that ended up forming a tribe of like-minded people whose vast culture and appreciation for fashion can be perceived from their garments: this is how Urahara came to life.

Trading the old for the new.

Who are the faces behind the magic and how influential have they been to streetwear?

Jun Takahashi, founder of Undercover, was heavily inspired by his passion for punk-rock leading him to take inspiration from Vivienne Westwood and her husband Malcolm McLaren, manager of Sex Pistols.

Funnily enough, at first the brand0s scarcity was due to financial necessities – Nigo started out on a tight budget and couldn’t produce more than 50 T-shirts a week.