Supreme is an American clothing and
skateboarding
Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a ...
lifestyle brand established in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in April 1994.
The brand aims to appeal to youth culture in general as well as the skateboarding and hip hop scenes specifically. The company makes skateboards in addition to clothing and accessories.
The red box logo with "Supreme" in white
Futura Heavy Oblique is thought to be largely based on
Barbara Kruger
Barbara Kruger (born January 26, 1945) is an American conceptual artist and collagist associated with the Pictures Generation. She is most known for her collage style that consists of black-and-white photographs, overlaid with declarative captio ...
's art.
The Supreme brand is popular in China, Japan, Europe and the US.
Supreme is owned by
VF Corporation
VF Corporation (formerly Vanity Fair Mills until 1969) is an American global apparel and footwear company founded in 1899 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The company's 13 brands are organized into three categories: Outdoor, Active and Wor ...
.
History
The brand was founded by James Jebbia in 1994. The first Supreme store opened in an old office space on
Lafayette Street
Lafayette Street is a major north-south street in New York City's Lower Manhattan. It originates at the intersection of Reade Street and Centre Street, one block north of Chambers Street. The one-way street then successively runs through Chi ...
in Lower
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in April 1994.
It was designed with skaters in mind with a unique design for the store layout: by arranging the clothes around the perimeter of the store, a large central space permitted skaters with backpacks to skate into the store and still feel comfortable.
This store had its core group of skaters who served as its team in 1994,
which included late actors
Justin Pierce
Justin Charles Pierce (March 21, 1975 – July 10, 2000) was an American-British actor and skateboarder who grew up in the U.S. He is best known for his roles as Casper in the 1995 film ''Kids'' and Roach in the 2000 film ''Next Friday''. On Ju ...
and
Harold Hunter
__NOTOC__
Harold Atkins Hunter (April 2, 1974 – February 17, 2006) was an American professional skateboarder and actor. He played the role of Harold in Larry Clark's 1995 film ''Kids''.
Career
Hunter was born in New York City and grew up in ...
, and the first employees were extras from the
Larry Clark
Lawrence Donald Clark (born January 19, 1943) is an American film director, photographer, writer and film producer who is best known for his controversial teen film ''Kids'' (1995) and his photography book ''Tulsa'' (1971). His work focuses prim ...
film ''
Kids
Kid, Kids, KIDS, and K.I.D.S. may refer to:
Common meanings
* Colloquial term for a child or other young person
** Also for a parent's offspring regardless of age
* Engage in joking
* Young goats
* The goat meat of young goats
* Kidskin, lea ...
''.
Jebbia explained that he opened Supreme in lower Manhattan because at the time there was nowhere else to buy skate products in the area. He focused primarily on more obscure, harder-to-find items and credited the
open-mindedness
Open-mindedness is receptiveness to new ideas. Open-mindedness relates to the way in which people approach the views and knowledge of others." Jason Baehr defines an open-minded person as one who "characteristically moves beyond or temporarily sets ...
of skaters with the brand's ability to take risks.
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 and features an indoor skate bowl. Other locations include Paris, which opened in 2016, London, which opened in September 2011, Tokyo (
Harajuku
is a district in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Harajuku is the common name given to a geographic area spreading from Harajuku Station to Omotesando, corresponding on official maps of Shibuya ward as Jingūmae 1 chōme to 4 chōme. In popular refer ...
,
Daikanyama and
Shibuya
Shibuya ( 渋谷 区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station.
As of April 1 ...
),
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
,
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
, and
Fukuoka
is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...
. The additional locations emulate the original Lafayette Street store's design; stores feature rotating art displays, and use videos and music to attract attention.
Supreme stocks its own clothing label, as well as other skateboard brands such as
Vans
Vans is an American manufacturer of skateboarding shoes and related apparel, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and motocross teams. From 1996 to 2019, the comp ...
,
Nike SB
Nike Skateboarding, primarily known as Nike SB, is the Nike brand for its line of shoes, clothing, and equipment for skateboarding. Nike Skateboarding won the 2020 Webby People’s Voice Award for Best Home/Welcome Page in the category Web.
Hist ...
, Spitfire Wheels, and
Thrasher
Thrashers are a New World group of perching bird, passerine birds related to mockingbirds and New World catbirds. Like these, they are in the family (biology), family Mimidae. There are 15 species in one large and 4 monotypic genus, genera.
T ...
, among others. James Jebbia was quoted in saying that anything that Supreme releases will never be classified as "limited," but notes that they make short runs of their products because they "don't want to get stuck with stuff nobody wants."
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
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
’s collection every
Thursday
Thursday is the Names of the days of the week, day of the week between Wednesday and Friday. According to the ISO 8601 international standard, it is the fourth day of the week. In countries which adopt the "Sunday-first" convention, it is the fi ...
.
In October 2017, Supreme opened their 11th store and second in New York City in the
Williamsburg neighborhood of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. On October 6, 2017, James Jebbia confirmed that the label had sold a significant stake in the company of roughly 50% (around $500 million) to
private equity
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...
firm
The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and pri ...
.
On February 25, 2019, Supreme moved their original Manhattan location from 274 Lafayette Street to 190 Bowery.
Supreme opened its 12th store on
Market Street Market Street may refer to:
*Market Street, Cambridge, England
*Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia
* Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia
*Market Street, Manchester, England
*Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
...
in San Francisco in October 2019.
In 2019, a collection of every Supreme
deck ever produced sold for $800,000 at a
Sotheby's auction.
In November 2020,
VF Corporation
VF Corporation (formerly Vanity Fair Mills until 1969) is an American global apparel and footwear company founded in 1899 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The company's 13 brands are organized into three categories: Outdoor, Active and Wor ...
announced that they agreed to buy Supreme in an all cash deal for US$2.1 billion.
VF Corporation bought out the investors Carlyle Group and Goode Partners LLC, as well as founder James Jebbia. According to VF, Jebbia will continue to manage the business.
The 13th store of the company opened on May 6, 2021, in Milan.
Skate teams
The original Supreme skate team consisted of Ryan Hickey,
Justin Pierce
Justin Charles Pierce (March 21, 1975 – July 10, 2000) was an American-British actor and skateboarder who grew up in the U.S. He is best known for his roles as Casper in the 1995 film ''Kids'' and Roach in the 2000 film ''Next Friday''. On Ju ...
, Gio Estevez, Paul Leung, Chris Keeffe, Jones Keeffe, Peter Bici, and Mike Hernandez. Other pro skaters, such as
Harold Hunter
__NOTOC__
Harold Atkins Hunter (April 2, 1974 – February 17, 2006) was an American professional skateboarder and actor. He played the role of Harold in Larry Clark's 1995 film ''Kids''.
Career
Hunter was born in New York City and grew up in ...
and Jeff Pang, became associates of the company due to Supreme's roots within New York City's skate culture.
The current skate team, as of 2021, includes Aidan Mackey,
Brian Anderson, Ben Kadow,
Jason Dill
Jason Dill (born November 21, 1976) is an American professional skateboarder, photographer, and co-founder of Fucking Awesome—an American skate company.
Early life
Dill was born in Huntington Beach, California, Huntington Beach, California, U ...
,
Sean Pablo,
Na-Kel Smith
Na-Kel Allah Smith (born July 22, 1994) is an American skateboarder, rapper, songwriter and actor. Originally a skateboarder from the Los Angeles area, he was known for his association with the hip hop collective Odd Future, appearing in musi ...
,
Tyshawn Jones
Tyshawn Jones (born December 24, 1998) is a regular-footed American professional skateboarder, from New York. He is a two time ''Thrasher'' Skater of the Year winner (2018 and 2022)
Early life
Born in Manhattan, New York Jones grew up splitting ...
,
Mark Gonzales
Mark Gonzales (born June 1, 1968), also known as "Gonz" and "The Gonz", is an American professional skateboarder and artist. He is known as the godfather of modern street skateboarding and was named the "Most Influential Skateboarder of All Time ...
,
Kader Sylla
Kader Sylla (born 2002) is an American professional skateboarder from Studio City, California. Kader is goofy-footed.
Early life
He was born and raised in California, and is from the Los Angeles neighborhood of Encino. His interest in the sport ...
,
Sage Elsesser
Sage Gabriel Carlos Atreyu Elsesser (born January 31, 1997), also known as Navy Blue, is an American regular-footed skateboarder, rapper, record producer, visual artist, and model.
Elsesser has been sponsored by several skater fashion brands in ...
, Rowan Zorilla, Seven Strong, Troy Gipson, Vince Touzery, Caleb Barnett, Kevin Bradley, Nik Stain, Kevin Rodrigues and
Beatrice Domond
Beatrice Domond (born 1995) is a regular-footed American skateboarder from Miami, Florida.
Early life and education
Domond moved to West Palm Beach, Florida when she was 4. She started skating at the age of 7. Domond earned her associate degree ...
.
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 been granted trademarks in many countries within North America, Europe and Asia.
In 2018, Supreme lost a lawsuit in an Italian court, and the European Union refused to register its trademark, so "Supreme" branded items not licensed, approved or manufactured by Supreme could be sold in Italy and Spain.
Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
was able to sign a promotion agreement with a fake Supreme brand in China. Finally, in November 2019, an appellate court of the
European Union Intellectual Property Office
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO; french: links=no, Office de l'Union européenne pour la propriété intellectuelle), founded in 1994, is the European Union Agency responsible for the registration of the European Union trad ...
(EUIPO) found that Supreme's brand is distinct and eligible for an EU trademark. "It has been widely demonstrated that the sign is used as a brand and in some cases seen as "‘cult’ in the field of streetwear," the court said.
On August 27, 2020, EUIPO granted Supreme a Europe-wide trademark for bags, clothing and retail stores.
Awards
In 2018, Supreme was awarded the
Council of Fashion Designers of America
The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA), founded in 1962 by publicist Eleanor Lambert, and headquartered in Manhattan, is a not-for-profit trade association comprising a membership of over 450 American fashion and accessory des ...
's Menswear Designer of the Year Award.
Marketing
Fashion photographer
Terry Richardson
Terrence Richardson (born August 14, 1965) is an American fashion and portrait photographer. He has shot advertising campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Aldo, Supreme, Sisley, Tom Ford, and Yves Saint Laurent among others, and also done work for ma ...
has produced some of the brand's most notable photographs, including of
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...
,
Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Introduced in 1955, Kermit serves as the everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably ''Sesame Street'' and ''The Muppet Show'', as well ...
,
Three 6 Mafia
Three 6 Mafia is an American Hip hop music, hip hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip hop group, they would eventually go on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mys ...
,
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...
,
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
,
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
,
Gucci Mane
Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, ...
,
Nas
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air ( ...
, and
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...
.
William "Bill" Strobeck serves as Supreme's main filmer, and has created several web edits for the brand such as ''PUSSY GANGSTER'' (2016), ''CANDYLAND'' (2019) and ''STALLION'' (2021). Strobeck has also filmed and directed both of Supreme's full-length films - "c''herry"'' (2014) and ''"BLESSED"'' (2018).
Collaborators
Kenneth Cappello made some Supreme photo tees like
Mike Tyson
Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...
,
Dipset
The Diplomats (also known as Dipset) is an American hip hop collective formed in 1997 by childhood friends Cam'ron and Jim Jones in Harlem, New York. The group was originally composed of Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Freekey Zekey, all of whom grew ...
, and
Raekwon
Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon The Chef, or simply Raekwon (), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success ...
.
During the Fall/Winter 2017 season Supreme collaborated with fashion house
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...
for a Menswear Collection. It was ranked as the best collaboration of 2017 by
''Vogue''.
Supreme's collaboration with
Takashi Murakami
is a Japanese contemporary artist. He works in fine arts media (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation) and is known for blurring the line between high and low arts as well as co ae ...
raised $1 million for
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
relief.
Other notable brands that Supreme had collaborated with includes
Kangol
Kangol is a British clothing company famous for its headwear. The name Kangol reflects the original materials for production, the K coming from the word 'silK' (a recent attribution to 'Knitting' is incorrect), the ANG from 'ANGora', and the ...
,
Emilio Pucci
Don Emilio Pucci, Marchese di Barsento (; 20 November 1914 – 29 November 1992) was an Italian aristocrat, fashion designer and politician. He and his eponymous company are synonymous with geometric prints in a kaleidoscope of colors.
Early l ...
, AntiHero Skateboards,
New Era,
True Religion,
A Bathing Ape
A Bathing Ape (or BAPE) is a Japanese fashion brand founded by Nigo (Tomoaki Nagao) in Ura-Harajuku in 1993.David FischerNIGO Announces His Definitive Departure from BAPE''highsnobiety'',
May 25, 2013 ,
Nike
Nike often refers to:
* Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory
* Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment
Nike may also refer to:
People
* Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...
,
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
,
Vans
Vans is an American manufacturer of skateboarding shoes and related apparel, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and motocross teams. From 1996 to 2019, the comp ...
,
The North Face
The North Face is an American outdoor recreation products company. The North Face produces outdoor clothing, footwear, and related equipment. Founded in 1968 to supply climbers, the company's logo draws inspiration from Half Dome, in Yosemite ...
, Spitfire Wheels,
Champion
A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...
,
Stussy,
Comme des Garçons
Comme des Garçons (also known as CDG) is a Japanese fashion label based in Paris that was created and led by Rei Kawakubo. Its French flagship store is located in Paris. This label owns a world-wide store chain featuring various lines of prod ...
,
Timberland,
Lacoste
Lacoste S.A. is a French company, founded in 1933 by tennis player René Lacoste, and entrepreneur Mangkha. It sells clothing, footwear, sportswear, eyewear, leather goods, perfume, towels and watches. The company can be recognised by its gree ...
,
Thrasher Magazine
''Thrasher'' is a skateboarding magazine founded in January 1981 by Eric Swenson and Fausto Vitello. The publication consists primarily of skateboard- and music-related articles, photography, interviews and skatepark reviews.
The magazine also ...
,
Independent Trucks
Independent Truck Company is a skateboard truck manufacturer based in Santa Cruz, California. Established in 1978, the company is owned by NHS, Inc. and sponsors an extensive list of team riders.
History
The company was co-founded by Richard Nov ...
and many others.
Supreme collaborated with
Yohji Yamamoto
is a Japanese fashion designer based in Tokyo and Paris. Considered a master tailor alongside those such as Madeleine Vionnet, he is known for his avant-garde tailoring featuring Japanese design aesthetics.
Yamamoto has won notable awards for ...
during late 2020, bringing in
Yamamoto’s avant-garde tailoring and aesthetics. Supreme and Yohji Yamamoto would later collaborate again in mid 2022, this time bringing in graphics and designs from the video game series
Tekken
is a Japanese Media mix, media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly Namco). The franchise also includes film and print adaptations.
The ...
.
Filmography
Below is a list of official skate videos made for Supreme.
*''A Love Supreme'' (1995)
*''"cherry"'' (2014)
*''JOYRIDE'' (2014)
*''the red devil.'' (2015)
*''SICKNESS'' (2015)
*''SWOOSH'' (2015)
*''PUSSY GANGSTER'' (2016)
*''KING PUPPY'' (2016)
*''"BLESSED"'' (2018)
*''CANDYLAND'' (2019)
*''STALLION'' (2021)
*''MIND GOBLIN'' (2021)
*''"Play Dead"'' (2022)
References
External links
* {{Official website
1994 establishments in New York City
American companies established in 1994
The Carlyle Group companies
Clothing brands of the United States
Clothing retailers of the United States
Clothing companies based in New York City
Shoe companies of the United States
Clothing companies established in 1994
Retail companies established in 1994
Skateboarding companies
2020 mergers and acquisitions
VF Corporation