Beginning with the cult brand Forty Percent Against Rights in the early ‘90s, Tetsu Nishiyama (aka Tet) has been a central figure in Japan’s highly influential streetwear scene since the beginning, culminating with the launch of WTAPS (pronounced “double taps”) in 1996. With a primary leaning towards military and outdoor styles, the brand’s main focus has always been on everyday life and utility—as Tet tells it, “Placing things where they should be.” While WTAPS, like its Japanese street fashion peers, has since gone on to encompass a variety of classic American genres like Ivy and Prep, its philosophy to this day has never wavered: “Try to maximize the potential of things within the limits of design."

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