Supreme has reigned supreme in a counterfeiting lawsuit in Italy.
The demand for Supreme pieces in Italy has increased dramatically in recent years, despite the fact that the brand has no shops in the region. As a result, counterfeited items have entered the market. Supreme's Milan-based legal rep Nctm confirmed Thursday that courts in Milan and San Marino had ruled in favor of Supreme in the suit, Hypebeastreported.
Roughly 120,000 fakes—the exact nature of which has not been reported—will now be seized. It's unclear if the legal victory, first reported by Women's Wear Daily, also includes a financial settlement.
Counterfeiting, despite its obvious and palpable lameness, remains a problem for a number of brands across a variety of markets. Recent estimates on the value of the fakes trade place it as high as $460 billion. "The internet makes it easy to hide," International Trademark Association coordinator Tiffany Pho said last year. Facebook, which is increasingly becoming a hub of all that is shitty in the world, was ranked in 2017 as one of the top 10 sites with the most counterfeit merchandise by Red Points. AliExpress, Amazon, and eBay also landed in the top 10.
Stateside pieces of fake-as-fuck Supreme were recently documented in the Complex series Don't Believe the Hype.
The real Supreme, meanwhile, has been busy dropping predictably fast-selling collabs with Nike, Scarface, Stone Island, and Louis Vuitton. Back in October, the NYC-based label—which now has a shop in Brooklyn—became a billion-dollar brand. The Museum of Modern Art also included the brand's logo in its first fashion-focused exhibit in 73 years last September alongside Yeezy and more.
