Nelson Yap - Leading Man Material

It Has Been More Than A Decade Since He Started Menswear Label Benjamin Barker In 2009. Now, Nelson Yap Has His Sights On A Global Empire And The Metaverse.

- Rohaizatul Azhar

Midway through his interview, Nelson Yap, founder of home-grown menswear label Benjamin Barker, asks: “Have you heard of the Bored Ape?

Unfortunately, not really. Just enough to know that international celebrities, including American talk show host and comedian Jimmy Fallon, NBA superstar Stephen Curry and socialite Paris Hilton, all own one and are proud members of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). The 39-year-old Singaporean, it seems, is also part of this exclusive club, having purchased a Bored Ape recently for about $200,000. For the uninitiated, BAYC is a sold-out collection of 10,000 profile pictures of a primate, each with its own character traits and outfits, minted as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.

Yap's sharing of this information is not without reason. We're currently finalising our assets to launch our very own NFT collection, and my Bored Ape, dressed in Benjamin Barker, will be utilised as the storyteller for the launch, he reveals the news with excitement in his voice.

He remains rather tight-lipped about the details of the collection that is set to launch in the metaverse in the next couple of months, but shares that holders of the NFTs will be able to dress avatars in the brand's pieces, such as motorcycle and hunting jackets, three-piece suits, blazers and parkas.

It's like a game, he elaborates. For now, we have planned a year-long road map for this storytelling fashion journey, with various touchpoints so that our customers will look forward to the next drop. Plus, they will also be able to receive exclusive physical merchandise.