The Thing Behind The Logo

Sk8thing helped give Japanese streetwear some of its most recognizable faces. But for most of his career, nobody knew his.

Some of the most familiar images in streetwear have an unfamiliar author. The Ape Head became inseparable from BAPE; the astronaut gave Billionaire Boys Club a symbol of its own. Both were drawn by an artist whose work travelled far beyond his name.

His name is Sk8thing, also known as Shinichiro Nakamura. He designed BAPE’s Ape Head, worked on the visual…