Nigo
Ask NIGO®’s peers—designers, artists, musicians—to describe him and they’ll throw around words like “a god of culture,” “the master of taste and design,” and “a visionary.” There’s a reason for that. Now 48, the Japanese designer has carved a legacy rivaled by few.
What began as a small operation in Japan selling T-shirts out of Nowhere, a store NIGO® opened in Tokyo’s Harajuku neighborhood with Undercover designer Jun Takahashi in 1993, has grown into a larger-than-life empire. He dominated the 2000s through his work at A Bathing Ape and Billionaire Boys Club with Pharrell, and became the go-to designer for the biggest hip-hop artists of the time. Today, he oversees his brand Human Made, a much more refined line inspired by ’60s Americana (he left Bape in 2013).
But NIGO®’s legacy and impact go beyond any brand. He’s a visionary, one who’s created an entire world and lifestyle through his designs. He’s also always been ahead of the curve, a true innovator who’s inspired many in fashion, music, and art. If you’ve ever seen a NIGO® design, or walked into one of his immersive storefronts, then you know what we’re talking about. Before streetwear was seen as luxury, NIGO® was doing it. Before collaborations were so commonplace in fashion, NIGO® was doing those, too.
There’s no questioning what NIGO® means to the culture. Here, friends who were by his side and peers who watched from afar salute The General.
Don C
“He’s the icon of our culture. I pay more homage to him than probably anybody in the community because I love how he did it his way. He didn’t conform to the fashion calendar or do fashion shows or show at trade shows. RSVP Gallery was highly influenced by NIGO®. How I would like to roll my brand out is exactly how he did. I wish I could run a completely vertical business where I didn’t wholesale and just had the resources to erect amazing stores that completely brought people into my world. I don’t see anybody doing it like that today.
“NIGO® set the standard. I feel like everybody that came post-NIGO® has been influenced by him in some way, directly or indirectly. Literally everybody. From the 2000s until today, everybody should be paying homage to NIGO®. I think he’s one of the most important characters in popular culture of all time. Outside of my immediate family, he’s inspired me more than anyone else. NIGO® is a god of culture. And I love that, in our bubble, he’s the god, but outside of our culture, a lot of people might not even know who he is. He might be able to walk down the street and people won’t know who he is. You have to be really dialed into the culture to know who he is. It’s not for the dummy.”
Pusha-T
“NIGO® is a master of taste and design. I just remember Jacob the Jeweler asked Pharrell, ‘Do you know this guy from Japan? His name is NIGO®.’ We were both like, ‘No, we haven’t heard of him.’ We weren’t familiar at all. And Jacob said, ‘You have to meet him. Everything you get, he gets 1:1. Everything. And he gets it in the highest quality of diamond. If it’s not 1:1, it is a variation of it. It is 100 percent everything you do and design that he does.’ He was telling us that [NIGO®] is way far into the movement, super into the Star Trak movement. That’s what he was about. I fully remember us just being in awe, not even knowledgeable at all about what NIGO® had going on.
“His attention to detail, his taste level, his absolute quest for flawless perfection in anything he did, including the jewelry, was something shocking. He only strived to be that perfect with everything he did. He was totally into his lifestyle. He wanted the world to see that. He was so into it that you wanted to be down with him.
“I thought it was so cool for NIGO® to be so invested in himself and his vision to that extreme. I thought it was cool, and I was happy to be part of the club. I didn’t know how far it would go. I was seeing the frenzy unfold. It also gave me an understanding. To me, that’s when being fashion-forward and being first went to another level. Itʼs probably the first thing I had been part of that nobody else could have. You didn’t have what we had. There was no way.”
Futura
“It was all about his vision and his ideas. He decided to put [Bape] T-shirts inside of spray cans. Now, he’s a Japanese guy; he’s not from my culture. He’s got a view of it all, but damn, that’s my shit, and I never would have thought of that. Years later, people are getting into the business, ex-graffiti people who have become entrepreneurs, but back in 1997-1998, when NIGO® proposed that project, it was, like, the coolest shit I ever heard of. Not only was it clever, but it dialed in exactly who we are. Me and Stash had those cans. The next year, he did an actual metal can. Stash’s looked like a Rust-Oleum can. I did my own label. And it wasn’t just a shitty sticker. The fucking metal was printed and molded. That’s the best thing I think we ever did together. In the end, it’s no big thing. It’s just a packaging idea, but back then, when he proposed it, I just thought it was genius. That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done with NIGO®. I know I’ve done cooler things, but that’s my coolest thing. If that shit came out today, people would be trippin’. That was 20 years ago. So that just tells you all you need to know about how ahead of his time I feel like NIGO® was. He’s one of the 50 most influential people in our generation. He’s a prophet/visionary who comes from a foreign land yet assimilated a global culture and educated a lot of people along the way, myself included.”
Yoon Ahn
“I got to know him once I moved to Tokyo around 2003. Verbal was friends with him first, so that’s how I met him, and around that time I was a huge fan of N*E*R*D. NIGO® started to hang out with Pharrell then. I would go to N*E*R*D shows and NIGO® was there. It became a little crew. Around 2005, 2006, 2007, NIGO® was doing BBC with Pharrell, and they asked me to help out with their PR. I had never done PR before, but I thought it would be a good learning experience, so I jumped on it.
“In 2010-2011, NIGO® asked me to do Bape’s girls line, and I designed for them for two seasons. I learned what works and how to put that into the collection with something new—the whole process. I had never done it before, so the fact they were even willing to give the chance to someone who had never done it, I was very thankful. It gave me the opportunity to learn and see the process so up close and personal—everything from shooting the lookbook to how the lookbook goes out to the media—so it was cool. I got to design, but it was also training.
“I think the biggest thing I learned [from NIGO®] was how to become a master of your own projection. He was really good at that. He knew how to project himself and how to organize information within his brands so the branding becomes stronger. The way he would do things was larger than life. It was very hip-hop, if you think about it. A lot of people didn’t really get that—the mentality of being grandiose and flexing, especially in Japan, where they like to do things subtly. It was fun watching how this quiet person could be so good at articulating design.”
Jacob the Jeweler
“I have never met anyone like him. He’s a designer with great taste, and he appreciates good work. He knows exactly what he wants.
“We became more friendly, and NIGO® kept buying big pieces, pendants, diamond buckles, and rings. He loved rock ‘n’ roll, rockstar jewelry. He was inspired by and was a huge fan of Pharrell Williams. He told me that his dream was to meet Pharrell, and since I was friends with Pharrell, I told him I would introduce them. I called Pharrell and introduced them, and they became friends and then business partners. I did the introduction at my store, and they’re still friends now.”
Verbal
“I would see him on all the key fashion magazines. Before meeting him in person and working with him on the Teriyaki Boyz project, I always knew him as one of the pioneers of the Ura-Harajuku movement. He put Japan on the map by telling stories through the brand and all things creative that he was involved in: fashion, music, art, food, travel, etc. There was a certain mystique about the Tokyo fashion scene, which only a few really understood and had knowledge of, but rather than being insular, NIGO® proactively projected new interpretations of ‘higher living’ and constantly broke barriers.
“I learned so much by just watching NIGO®. The way he juxtaposed everyday items with high-end brands created new ‘meaning.’ Simple commodities like key chains, magnets, and snow domes can become so much more special through cultural context and design, and I saw his process firsthand.
“Growing up, I always fantasized about creating my own custom pieces. So when I got my first royalty check, I started dabbling with jewelry designs by making my own rings and chains. When Teriyaki Boyz started, Yoon and I had already launched the blueprint of what was later to become AMBUSH®, and we were designing the four-finger POW! rings, ‘Michael Jackson’ chains, Crown rings, etc. for fun. But seeing NIGO® with the SpongeBob chains, BBC rings, and, ultimately, the large dollar-sign chain, I was inspired to be more experimental. The more ‘pop’ and unlikely the design theme, [the] more hype and energy it generated. He made so many distinct jewelry pieces, and he was also an avid watch collector. But what blew me away was when he iced out the Flying Lady ornament on his Rolls-Royce Phantom back in 2006. That was the last thing I expected anyone to set diamonds on, and I was in awe of his wit and imagination. He had the magic touch, and it was amazing to see his ideas come to life.”
This story appears in our special, limited-edition "If You Build It, They Will Come" book, which features Kid Cudi and NIGO® on the cover. Buy a copy here.