BAPE

"A Bathing Ape (or BAPE) is a Japanese clothing company founded by Tomoaki "Nigo" Nagao in 1993.[1] The company specializes in street wear, operating stores in Japan, including BAPE, BAPE Store, Foot Soldier and the Bape Exclusive store (located in Aoyama, Tokyo). The company also operates Bape Cuts hair salon, Bape Café and gallery, Bape Sounds records. There are also stores located in Hong Kong, London, New York, Taipei and Los Angeles. Nigo also founded the women's clothing lines "APEE", and "BAPY", the female "couture" clothing line." -Wikipedia

BAPE is catching buzz in the US via American hip hop artists. Pharrell Williams, superproducer and member of the band N*E*R*D has collaborated with BAPE founder Nigo to design and manufacture pieces for Williams' brands Billionaire Boys Club (BBC) and Ice Cream. BAPE's signature feature is the exclusivity of their designs. Production of a design numbers in the hundreds, not tens of thousands. They therefore sell their pieces for exorbitant prices. The apparel is nothing special in my humble opinion. Their shoes on the other hand are definitely designed well.