Andy Warhol's iconic Campbell's Soup Cans painting series has had a significant impact on the world of art and pop culture. The vibrant and colourful imagery of the soup cans has become a symbol of consumer culture and mass production, a theme that has been embraced and reinterpreted by many artists and designers over the years. One of those artists is NIGO, the founder of the popular streetwear brand, A Bathing Ape.
A Bathing Ape's use of the soup can design in its designs was groundbreaking. It was one of the first instances of a streetwear brand using pop art imagery in its designs, and it helped to establish the brand as a pioneer in the world of streetwear. Released a line of t-shirts in 2000 that featured the iconic soup can design, reinterpreted in the brand's signature style. The t-shirts were an instant hit, and the Campbell's Soup Can design quickly became one of A Bathing Ape's most recognisable motifs.
The use of the Campbell's Soup Cans imagery in A Bathing Ape's designs was not just an homage to Warhol's work, but also a commentary on consumer culture and the commodification of art. By using an image that had become synonymous with mass production, A Bathing Ape was drawing attention to the ways in which art and fashion had become commercialised and commodified.
The Campbell's Soup Can design was just one example of how Warhol's work has influenced fashion and streetwear culture.