When the man behind Supreme speaks, you listen. Not just because he so rarely opens up to press and the public, but because anyone who's created an institution that has reigned over its segment of culture without losing its core audience or altering its original mission statement obviously possesses knowledge that is beyond the countless others who have failed in doing so.
James Jebbia sat down with Hypebeast to speak on the brand's lack of transparency, and why Supreme and Jebbia remain so reclusive in an era of 100% transparency between labels and consumers. But for anyone thinking that Jebbia and his team have a magical formula that requires secrecy, it's much simpler than that. "Instead of putting time and effort speaking on the process of how we get the collection done, our energy goes into presentation" he tells Gary Warnett. And while this logic may seem painfully obvious, it only takes a quick second to look around and realize Supreme is one of the few labels that is purely focused on the product.
There are no distractions surrounding the dopeness. The hype surrounding Supreme is purely created by the fans' desire to cop great product, and isn't manufactured by public relations or buzz-building techniques by the label. Jebbia claims that any mystique or secrecy stems from nothing. "It’s not that I’ve got secrets —I’ve always found the story quite boring really."
And he sees no reason why a designer's words would affect perception of the product. "I don’t really care what a designer has to say. I like Margiela, but I’ve never read an interview with him and nor do I need to. When I do read something about a designer it doesn’t alter my thoughts about their collection when I see it in person."
As for any long-term plans, it seems like Supreme is just going to stick by it's "less is more aesthetic." And like any other brand, Jebbia claims that "If I showed you what we used to do at the beginning you’d be like, Damn, how did you stay in business?'” It seems like the only focus for Supreme's future is to continue putting out product that connects with consumers on the most base level.
The full interview is available in the January issue of the print edition of Hypebeast.
[via Hypebeast]
