Supreme is known for making esoteric and sometimes impossible-to-source references in the design of its clothing. This is a source of much fascination for many of the brand's hardcore fans who attempt to piece together the puzzle that is right in front of them. The many references caused David Shapiro, the author who wrote about his experience traveling to every Supreme store in the world, to describe the brand as a "long-term conceptual art project." Now, the Instagram account Supreme_Copies has undertaken the Herculean task of deconstructing all those references, Dazed points out.
The page's description reads: "An archive and comparison page for the pieces Supreme has 'copied' 'paid homage to' or 'referenced' of others." The page does a great job of making these comparisons and unearthing what is almost always a very clear and direct reference to the Supreme item in question.
For its 100th post, Supreme_Copies explained the well-known story behind the brand's box logo. If you don't know, it references the artwork of Barbara Kruger, who once described Supreme as "a ridiculous clusterf**k of totally uncool jokers."
But that's merely the tip of the iceberg. The account explains exactly how The Sopranos, brands like Adidas, Nirvana, and even stock images have been instrumental to some of Supreme's most memorable pieces.
The creator of the account told Dazed that they created the account in order to collect all these references in one place. They also said that Supreme's use of different references is "genius." "The fact of the matter is that when Supreme makes these references, no matter how obscure, they broaden their audience," the person behind the page told Dazed. "It’s a combination of cultures. When scrolling through my page, I believe everyone can find a reference they are familiar with. And to many, that’s appealing."
You can scroll through the whole page here.
