25 YEARS OF BAPE STA COME TO ATMOSCON 2026 IN SHINJUKU

The first stop on the BAPE STA 25th anniversary was Los Angeles. On Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4, BAPE put a US exclusive STA collection on the ComplexCon floor; four weeks later, on Saturday, October 31, the second stop opens in Tokyo, where BAPE brings the BAPE STA archive, a photo booth and collaborative drops to atmoscon 2026 at the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building.

BAPE is billing the Tokyo stop as "25 YEARS OF BAPE STA", and the route is what makes it worth tracking: a US convention first, a Japanese sneaker festival second, with a reported store and webstore release in between.

Four Weeks From Los Angeles to Shinjuku

atmoscon 2026 runs Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1, from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM each day, at the Shinjuku Sumitomo Building in Nishi Shinjuku. The organizer is Foot Locker atmos Japan, and the festival mixes sneaker presales, live performers and brand booths.

BAPE's announcement promises three things at the festival: a walk through the BAPE STA archives, an exclusive photo booth, and special collaborative drops at the atmos booth. It names no collaborators and no products for those drops, so the list of what is on sale is still open on opening morning.

The Tokyo date also sits four weeks after the ComplexCon weekend, which makes the anniversary a run of events across two countries and not a single launch.

New Era and '47 Debut at the Same Festival

Two exhibitors at this year's atmoscon are there for the first time: New Era, with MLB caps made with TRADMAN'S BONSAI and a bonsai workshop, and '47, with atmos pink and MLB collaboration caps and a customization workshop. A Japanese preview of the sneaker presales lists brands alphabetically, starting with the adidas Originals ZX8000 atmos G SNK 13 "Chlorophyll", and had announced only part of the lineup before the doors opened.

The festival host has history with BAPE. In 2025, atmos marked its own 25th anniversary with a three way BAPE, atmos and adidas Superstar, so this year's BAPE STA anniversary arrives at a festival run by a company that has already built a BAPE anniversary shoe.

Past, Present and Future in Three Pairs

The pairs behind the anniversary were reported at ComplexCon as a trio built around the silhouette's past, present and future. Sole Retriever describes the Present pair as black leather with oversized metallic silver STA logos along the sides, and the Future pair as metallic silver leather across much of the upper, with a shark mouth cutting through the lateral STA logo. Silver is the 25th anniversary color.

Sole Retriever also reports a new 25 logo with a shooting star at its center on the anniversary apparel, and dates a store and webstore release to October 17 at BAPE flagships in the US. Other outlets, including Sneaker News, reported the trio only at ComplexCon Booth G41. BAPE's announcement does not say which of these pairs, if any, come to the Tokyo booth, so the Tokyo drops should be read as separate until BAPE connects them.

Sources Split on 2000 and 2001

BAPE counts 2026 as year 25. That puts the BAPE STA's debut at 2001, which is the date Sole Retriever uses, while an earlier history of the shoe dated the Bapesta to 2000 and at least one other history gives 2002. The brand's own arithmetic is the one the anniversary runs on.

The shoe's history includes a legal chapter that explains why the anniversary matters. Nike filed suit in January 2023, naming five BAPE silhouettes including the BAPE STA, and the complaint said Nike met BAPE in 2009 about the resemblance to the Air Force 1 and offered a licensing agreement that year. Coverage of the suit, including Complex and Sneaker Freaker, says BAPE redesigned the shoe in 2016 and brought the original shape back in 2021. The two companies later settled.

In April, the BAPE STA went back to basics for 2026, with clean construction and bold colorways ahead of collaborations. Silver leather and a shark mouth on the Future pair push the other way, and the anniversary now holds both ideas at once.

Three BAPE Releases Share October 31

October 31 is a full day for the brand. BAPE by Kazuki Kuraishi FW26, the designer's third BAPE season, goes on sale at BAPE STORE and US.BAPE.COM in Digital Tiger Camo and Digital 1st Camo, and BAPE x SUBU round three arrives in ABC Camo green, blue and pink. The Kuraishi release has no published product list or prices.

With atmoscon, that puts three BAPE moments on one Saturday, in stores and online as well as at a booth in Shinjuku. The anniversary is the one that crosses the Pacific: ComplexCon on October 3 and 4, a reported US store date of October 17, and Tokyo on October 31 and November 1.