BAPE STA

The BAPE STA is A Bathing Ape's patent leather take on the Air Force 1 silhouette, with the STARS logo replacing the Swoosh. Buy it if you want the shoe that defined 2000s Japanese streetwear.

Patent leather upper over a chunky cupsole, with the shooting star panel where a Swoosh would sit. Patent is the material that makes a BAPE STA recognisable from across a room, and it is also why they photograph the way they do. The build is heavier and glossier than the Nike shoe it references.

This is for people who came up on Nigo-era BAPE, and for anyone who wants a sneaker that reads as clearly not-Nike while sitting on a familiar shape.

BAPE STAs are produced in far smaller numbers than any Nike general release and distributed through BAPE's own stores. Patent leather also creases permanently, so deadstock pairs are a genuinely different proposition from worn ones.

One pair, size 10 in black. Deadstock, verified in hand at our Hurst, TX shop.