Supreme (brand)

The brand was founded by James Jebbia in 1994. The first Supreme store opened in an old office space on Lafayette Street in Lower Manhattan in April 1994.[11][12] 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.[9] This store had its core group of skaters who served as its team in 1994,[9] which included late actors Justin Pierce and Harold Hunter, and the first employees were extras from the Larry Clark film Kids.[1]

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.[13] Other locations include Paris, which opened in 2016, London, which opened in September 2011, Tokyo (Harajuku, Daikanyama and Shibuya), Nagoya, Osaka, and Fukuoka.[14] The additional locations emulate the original Lafayette Street store's design; stores feature rotating art displays, and use videos and music to attract attention.[12][1]

Supreme stocks its own clothing label, as well as other skateboard brands such as Vans, Nike SB, Spitfire, Thrasher and Girl Distribution Company, among others.[15] 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."[9]

In October 2017, Supreme opened their 11th store and second in New York City in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.[16][17] 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 firm The Carlyle Group.[18][19] On February 25, 2019, Supreme moved their original Manhattan location from 274 Lafayette Street to 190 Bowery.[20]

Supreme opened its 12th store on Market Street in San Francisco in October 2019.[21][22]

In November 2020, VF Corporation announced that they agreed to buy Supreme in an all cash deal for US$2.1 billion.[6]

Supreme has been granted trademarks in many countries including countries in North America, Europe and Asia.[23]

In 2018, Supreme lost a lawsuit in an Italian court,[24] and the European Union refused to register its trademark,[25] so "Supreme" items not manufactured by Supreme can readily be sold in Italy and Spain.[26] Samsung was able to sign a promotion agreement with a fake Supreme brand in China.[27][28]

In August 2020, Supreme received its European Union-wide trademark from the European Union Intellectual Property Office, giving the company exclusive rights and ownership to its trademark in all 27 member states of the European Union.[29] In 2020 Supreme acquired a Chinese trademark.[23]

In 2018, Supreme was awarded the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Menswear Designer of the Year Award.[12]

Fashion photographer Terry Richardson has produced some of the brand's most notable photographs, including of Michael Jordan, Kermit the Frog,[30] Three 6 Mafia, Lou Reed, Lady Gaga, Neil Young,[31] Gucci Mane, Nas, and Morrissey.

Kenneth Cappello[32] made some Supreme photo tees like Mike Tyson, Dipset, and Raekwon.[33]

In 2019, then-Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown was seen wearing apparel from a Spring 2019 Supreme collaboration with 47 Brand[34] during the Raiders' first day of training camp for their 2019 season.[35][36]

Supreme's collaboration with Takashi Murakami raised $1 million for COVID-19 relief.[37]

The Supreme brand is popular in China,[38] Japan,[39] and most recently the US.

• Official website