Supreme (brand)

Supreme is an American clothing brand established in New York City in April 1994. With products that cater to skateboarding and urban fashion trends, Supreme focuses its design on streetwear culture.

The company's products consist of clothing items, skateboards, and accessories. The red box logo with "Supreme" in white Futura Heavy Oblique is thought to be largely based on Barbara Kruger's art.

In December 2020, VF Corporation, a US-based apparel and footwear company, bought Supreme for $2.1 billion. However, it was sold in 2024 to the eyewear-focused company EssilorLuxottica for $1.5 billion.

History
The brand was founded in 1994 by American-British businessman and fashion designer James Jebbia.

During the formation of the brand, Jebbia was inspired by a book on Barbara Kruger's artwork, which influenced the design of Supreme's red box logo with "Supreme" in white Futura Heavy Oblique. The brand later released unlicensed remixes featuring the works of artists and brands such as Jackson Pollock and Coca-Cola.

The first store opened in a former office space on Lafayette Street in Lower Manhattan in April 1994. It featured a layout that accommodated skateboarding and a selection of clothes arranged around the store's perimeter. This store's team included skaters and actors such as Justin Pierce and Harold Hunter.

The first employees were extras from the Larry Clark film Kids. Jebbia stated that he opened Supreme in Lower Manhattan because, at the time, there were few options for buying skateboarding products in that area.

In 2004, a second location was opened on North Fairfax Ave in Los Angeles, California, which is nearly double the size of the original New York City store. Other locations include London, which opened in September 2011; Paris, which opened in 2016; Tokyo (Harajuku, Daikanyama and Shibuya); Nagoya; Osaka; and Fukuoka. The additional locations emulate the original Lafayette Street store's design.

On October 6, 2017, James Jebbia confirmed that the label had sold a significant stake in the company, roughly 50%, valued around $500 million to private equity firm, The Carlyle Group. On February 25, 2019, Supreme moved their flagship store at 274 Lafayette Street to a new location at 190 Bowery Street.

That year, a collection of every Supreme skateboard deck ever produced sold for $800,000 at a Sotheby's auction.

In November 2020, VF Corporation announced that they agreed to buy Supreme in an all-cash deal for US$2.1 billion. VF Corporation bought out investors Carlyle Group and Goode Partners LLC, as well as founder James Jebbia. According to VF, Jebbia continues to manage the business. Supreme was sold to eyewear company and Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica in July 2024 for $1.5 billion.

Skate teams
The original Supreme skate team consisted of Ryan Hickey, Justin Pierce, Gio Estevez, Paul Leung, Chris Keefe, Jones Keefe, Peter Bici, and Mike Hernandez. Other skaters, such as Harold Hunter and Jeff Pang, became associates of the company.

As of 2003, the skate team includes Aidan Mackey, Brian Anderson, Ben Kadow, Jason Dill, Sean Pablo, Tyshawn Jones, Mark Gonzales, Kader Sylla, Sage Elsesser, Rowan Zorilla, Seven Strong, Troy Gipson, Vince Touzery, Caleb Barnett, Yuto Horigome, Nik Stain, Kevin Rodrigues, and Beatrice Domond.

Following the Paris store opening in 2016, Supreme also formed a French skate team that includes Dayanne Akadiri, Manuel Schenck, Lucien Momy, Dadoum Chabane, Damien Bulle, Victor Demonte, Valentin Jutant, and Samir Krim.

Trademarks
Supreme has secured trademarks in many countries within North America, Europe, and Asia. However, in 2018, Supreme lost a legal case in Italy [2], and the European Union declined to register its trademark. Consequently, "Supreme"-branded items not officially licensed, approved, or produced by Supreme could, for a time, be legally sold in Italy and Spain.

The brand has seen notable success in China and Japan. [5] In 2018, Samsung Electronics announced a promotional partnership with a counterfeit Supreme brand to open retail stores in China. This decision faced significant backlash from consumers, leading Samsung to terminate the partnership a few months later.

In November 2019, an appellate court of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) recognized the distinctiveness of Supreme's brand, making it eligible for an EU trademark. The court noted that the brand is perceived as a "cult" in the streetwear sector. [1] On August 27, 2020, the EUIPO granted Supreme a Europe-wide trademark for bags, clothing, and retail stores. [11]

Marketing and awards
Supreme stocks its own clothing label, as well as other skateboard brands such as Vans, Nike SB, Spitfire Wheels, and Thrasher. Supreme releases two collections each year. Instead of offering the entire line at once, the brand releases a few pieces online and in-store from the current season's collection every Thursday. According to James Jebbia, Supreme's production runs are limited, not to create exclusivity but to avoid surplus inventory of unpopular items.

Fashion photographer Terry Richardson has produced several photographs for the brand, including Michael Jordan, Kermit the Frog, [4 Three 6 Mafia, Lou Reed, Lady Gaga, Neil Young, [5 Gucci Mane, Nas, and Morrissey.

William "Bill" Strobeck serves as Supreme's main filmmaker and has produced several web edits for the brand, such as Joyride (2014), Swoosh (2015), [7], and King Puppy (2016). Strobeck has also filmed and directed both of Supreme's full-length films, Cherry (2014) and BLESSED (2018). [9]

In 2018, Supreme was awarded the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Menswear Designer of the Year Award.

Collaborators
Supreme has engaged in various collaborations that have expanded its reach beyond the skateboarding community, including a collaboration with Louis Vuitton in 2017. A collaboration with artist Takashi Murakami in 2020 featured a special edition product that raised $1 million for COVID-19 pandemic relief efforts. Supreme's partnership with Yohji Yamamoto in late 2020 featured Yamamoto's avant-garde tailoring and Supreme's urban aesthetic. A subsequent collaboration in 2022 emphasized the same trend, with Blitzkrieg incorporating graphics and designs from the Tekken video game series. [3] In March 2022, Supreme joined forces with British high-fashion label Burberry for a collection of both clothing and accessories.