BAPE revives 2004 MULTI CAMO on BAPE STA ICON sneaker

BAPE just gave one of its most recognizable archive codes a new life on the BAPE STA ICON, and the move makes perfect sense if you know how deep the brand’s sneaker history runs. The BAPE STA first dropped in 2000 and quickly became a signature of A Bathing Ape’s Japanese hip-hop streetwear identity, built around that star-shaped STA logo and the kind of color blocking that never asks permission.

The print doing the heavy lifting here is MULTI CAMO, which BAPE says was developed around 2004 as a louder evolution of its camouflage language. This is not the muted, blend-in kind of camo. BAPE describes it as bigger, denser, and more chromatic, with an expanded palette and a larger visual scale that turns the upper into a billboard. The brand says this is the first time MULTI CAMO has ever been applied to the BAPE STA ICON, which matters because the silhouette is not some throwaway canvas. It is one of the house’s defining shapes, and the update keeps the familiar star-logo DNA intact while pushing the archival print into a sneaker people will actually lace up in 2026.

That blend of old and new is exactly why the shoe hits now. BAPE was founded on April 1, 1993, in Harajuku, Tokyo, and the brand has always treated its own archive like a living wardrobe instead of a museum. Its official history also places “1ST CAMO” in 2004, which tells you how central that era was to BAPE’s visual identity. The MULTI CAMO treatment on the BAPE STA ICON feels like a direct line back to that period, when the label was sharpening the codes that made it instantly recognizable far beyond Tokyo.

For buyers, the question is not whether this is loud. It is very loud. In a modern wardrobe, it behaves like the center of the outfit, best worn with washed denim, black cargos, or plain sweats that let the shoe do the talking. If you want a sneaker that reads as archive BAPE without hunting a beat-up pair from the era, this is the smarter play. If you want the full original-era artifact, the chase still belongs to an early BAPE STA from the 2000 run. Either way, the revival proves the print still has bite, and BAPE knows exactly how to weaponize nostalgia without sanding off the edge.