Tetsu Nishiyama, Shibuya born and raised, is one of the defining creatives to emerge from the seminal early 1990’s Tokyo underground scene - an epoch that continues to be one of the most resonant and defining for streetwear today - regardless of the connotations that term now has. Tetsu - or Tet, to the cognoscenti - had a similar formative experience to other Harajuku luminaries, like Tomoaki Nagao (of BAPE) and Shinsuke Takizawa (of Neighborhood), starting by silk-screened shirts under the 40% Against Rights marquis.
As the once-underground Harajuku scene erupted, Tet showed the vision to transcend the ubiquitous T-shirt printing, and began releasing full cut-and-sew collections under the Wtaps moniker. While the label has strongly leveraged very tried-and-true motorcycle and militaria aesthetics, Wtaps has also taken enough creative liberty with color and textile diversity to go well beyond a simple repro label.
An artful dedication to core influences - combined with a willingness to disregard them, has made WTaps a sought after collaborator - the list of co-branded projects is the essential short list of marquis “underground establishment” labels. And Tet, in his own right, has shown a creative resilience that earns Wtaps a perennial following of otaku-level devotees, astronomical eBay prices, and a thousands of fashion forum posts. Tres Bien welcomes Wtaps as an exemplar of the unique Americana-via-Tokyo lens, and as a label that by any measure sets a high mark in “low” fashion.