The urban zeitgeist is captured in three art forms; street photography, streetwear and street art. And Leica has brought these three creative branches together in a strictly limited, special edition compact camera: the Leica D Lux 7 “A BATHING APE® X STASH”. Available via Leica in a black finish and in silver through A BATHING APE®, the special edition features the signature ABC CAMO look of the streetwear label BAPE®, and the brand’s APE HEAD  insignia, marked with the distinctive wildstyle design of US graffiti artist STASH. 

Three cities, three creators

The streetwear label BAPE® (A BATHING APE®) brings Tokyo’s urban street style to an international market, with its contemporary Japanese designs. New York too is famed for its street style and is home to the street-art legend STASH (aka Josh Franklin), whose creations brought the anonymity of subway tunnels into the public eye. The third city to bring its influence to the new edition is Wetzlar in Germany city, known for the art of optical engineering and camera design and home of LEICA for the past century. Here the creative energies of Tokyo and New York have converged to produce a one-of-a-kind limited edition compact camera. It’s an appropriate innovation, given that photography has been pivotal in documenting both street art and street fashion. The launch of the Leica D-Lux 7 “A BATHING APE® X  STASH” brings all these elements together for the first time. 

Stash – epitomising the youthful spirit of a generation 

The Leica D-Lux 7 was designed by the Brooklyn-based artist, who chose to incorporate both the famously graphic-heavy style of the BAPE® label and his own distinctive visual approach. To mark the launch of the limited-edition Leica D-Lux 7, a selection of photographs by STASH  will be presented in a special exhibition at the Leica Store Los Angeles.  

Stash says of the launch: 

“When I started doing graffiti in the early 1980s, the term ‘street art’ didn’t exist. It was only later, when we emerged from the tunnels and train stations, that we became much more visible.  Documenting my art through photography has always been part of my creativity. With the  advent of digital cameras, I got my first Leica.” Recognising many parallels between the three art forms he continues: “They are visual, based on colour, form and expressive freedom.  I think they are strongly youth-driven, and there is so much creativity between them that one  feeds into the other to help complete the story.” 

Tech spec

The Leica D-Lux 7 “A BATHING APE® X STASH” model matches the technical specifications of the serially produced model. It has a Micro Four Thirds sensor and a fast zoom lens with optical image stabilisation, covering focal lengths from 24–75mm (a 35mm camera equivalent), with an aperture range of f/1.7–2.8. Its lens uses a central portion of the sensor (whose total resolution is over 21 million pixels),  resulting in even higher image quality. In addition to high-res photographs, the sensor also enables 4K 30fps and full-HD 60fps videos. The package comes with an additional carrying strap, a  specially designed camera pouch, and an auto lens cap that opens and closes as the lens retracts and extends. 

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