The Shark Full Zip is the piece people think of when they think of BAPE, which also makes it a favorite of counterfeiters. It has been around long enough that a real one from 2005 and a real one from 2025 can look quite different. Start with that fact. Half the arguments about this hoodie come from comparing pieces that were never meant to match.
Know which Shark you are looking at
Nigo introduced the hoodie in 2004. Its signature is the zip that runs up the front and around the hood, so that closing it all the way turns the wearer into the shark. Hypebeast traces the idea to the shark faces painted on planes of the Flying Tigers, the American volunteer air unit of the Second World War.
- First edition, WGM: the World Gone Mad design, with the older FrankenApe branding and the line Ape Shall Never Kill Ape, in thick cotton and flagship woodland camo.
- Second edition, PONR: the letters stand for Point Of No Return and run across the back of the hood. Hypebeast dates this version to 2005, with a thermal lining.
- 10th anniversary, 2014: four hoodies in gold, silver, black and white, with Swarovski crystals on the teeth and eyes.
- 20th anniversary, 2024: both classic editions were released again, along with a country pack in ten colorways.
