Supreme’s Biggest Moments: A Decade in Review

Image via Complex Original

Back in 2011, Supreme was still far from hitting its fever pitch of popularity in the mainstream. But that doesn’t mean the brand didn’t have its worldwide supporters. James Jebbia’s company already had stores in New York, Los Angeles, and Japan up to this point, but had yet to tap into the European market. That all changed on Sept. 22 when Supreme opened its first shop in Europe. Stationed at ⅔ Peter St. in London’s SoHo district, the grand opening was highlighted by a special box logo T-shirt featuring a Union Jack flag placed behind the Supreme logo. The setup of the store was worth checking out, too. Sculptures and paintings by longtime friend of the brand Mark Gonzales are displayed throughout the two-floor establishment. —Mike DeStefano

Supreme collaborated with Japanese clothing brands well before its first collaboration with Comme des Garçons. In the brand’s early days, it worked with the likes of Hiroshi Fujiwara, W)TAPS, A Bathing Ape, Undercover, and more. However, no Supreme collaboration with a Japanese clothing brand has been as hyped as the brand’s collections with Rei Kawakubo's Comme des Garçons Shirt line. The brand’s first Comme des Garçons Shirt collaboration arrived in March 2012 and introduced the much-coveted mirrored box logo, which would pop up in other Comme des Garçons Shirt collaborations down the line. Since then, every time these two brands work together, it never feels awkward. It could be because that Comme des Garçons Shirt was originally conceived to be specifically focused on shirt garments, something Supreme has mastered. Or it’s because these collaborations go deeper than just slapping two logos together. Previous collaborations have referenced archival Comme des Garcons pieces from the early ‘90s and old Comme des Garçons Shirt ads.

Whatever it may be, Supreme’s relationship with Comme des Garçons remains to be one of the brand’s most important collaborations. Jebbia even told Vogue that he felt the collaboration with Comme des Garçons “Opened a lot of doors, a lot of eyes.” When Andrian Joffe, Rei Kawabuko’s husband and the president of Comme des Garçons, was asked about Jebbia he told Vogue, “I have never met anyone with such a strong, single-minded vision who has always stayed close to his sense of values. That’s why our collaboration was so meaningful—and why the growth of Supreme has in a way mirrored our own.” —Lei Takanashi

Almost two decades later, one of Supreme’s most treasured collaborations is still its original set of Nike SB Dunk Lows inspired by the Air Jordan III. In fact, the pairs were so monumental that Supreme decided to celebrate their 10th anniversary on July 19, 2012. The result was a brand new colorway of the iconic SB Dunk Low. A consolation prize of sorts for anyone who cherished the originals but could never get their hands on them, this time Supreme offset the signature elephant print paneling with a bright red leather upper. While the originals are still the ones that most collectors fawn over, this installment is valuable in its own right. The instant sellout will currently set you back $1,000 or more on the resell market if you want a deadstock pair. Supreme was already a respected collaborator in the sneaker marketplace, but the brand getting so much attention with a sneaker referencing a 10-year old project showed just how good it was, and how much the brand’s archive meant to so many. —Mike DeStefano

Aside from releasing a short Thomas Campbell film in 1995, A Love Supreme, it took Supreme 20 years to drop a proper, full length, skate film. That finally arrived in 2014 with cherry, a 40-minute film directed by William Strobeck. The film featured skaters Tyshawn Jones, Sage Elsesser, Sean Pablo, Nakel Smith, Kevin Bradley, Aidan Mackey, Paulo Diaz, Mark Gonzales, Dylan Rieder, Alex Olson, Jason Dill, and more. The long awaited video from Supreme came together naturally. Strobeck, who was known for documenting Philadelphia’s Love Park skate scene in in the late ‘90s, previously made videos for skateboard companies like Alien Workshop and Krooked. After filming a part for TransWorld, which featured members of the Supreme skateboard team, Strobeck was asked to make a commercial for Supreme. That led to Strobeck getting a green light from the brand to produce, shoot, and direct a whole film.

Although some hypebeasts probably copped the film to flip a DVD for barely any profit, cherry proved to naysayers that Supreme was still committed to being a skateboard brand. After the film was released, it was reported by Jenkem that skate stores believed the film boosted sales of Converse Chuck Taylors, the shoes worn by most of the skaters in the film. The film drastically changed the life of Supreme team rider Tyshawn Jones, who made his debut in cherry and was picked up by adidas Skateboarding shortly after the film was released. Four years later, he now has his own line of Adidas sneakers and was recently dubbed “Skater of the Year” by Thrasher Magazine. Since cherry, Supreme and Strobeck have released two other full length skate films,  Blessed and Candyland. Like the original members of the Supreme team in 1994, the skaters featured in these films by Strobeck will likely influence future generations of skateboarders to come. —Lei Takanashi

Supreme’s relationship with Nike was nothing new by 2014. The brands had worked on countless memorable projects together centered around SB models like the Dunk Low, Dunk High, Blazer, and Bruin. This collab was different, though. Supreme stepped out of the realm of skateboarding and designed its own take on Penny Hardaway’s Air Foamposite One. The bulky ‘90s basketball sneaker was also one of the hottest lifestyle models at the time, championed mainly in areas like New York and Washington, D.C. 

The luxury-inspired black and red designs covered in a Versace-esque gold print had hundreds flooding Lafayette Street to camp out overnight in April 2014 for their chance at potentially snagging a pair for retail. The hysteria was so crazy that barricades could not even contain the crowd, which eventually poured out into the street disrupting traffic flow. Some customers even rushed the door of the SoHo retailer to try and get to their pairs. NYPD ended up shutting down the fiasco citing safety concerns. Some even reported riot squads and helicopters overhead in an effort to control the chaos. Considering the fall from grace the Foamposite has had since 2014, it is a little funny to see this type of chaos around the sneaker. But at the time it was one of Supreme’s most insane drops. Its lasting legacy will always be that it was the sneaker that permanently ended in-store Supreme x Nike releases going forward. —Mike DeStefano

Michael Jordan in a Supreme T-shirt is something a lot of people probably never thought they would see without some photo editing. Those same people also probably never thought that Supreme would collaborate on an Air Jordan silhouette. They were proven wrong on both accounts back in October 2015 when the brand officially announced its first-ever project with Jordan Brand. The stars of the capsule were three colorways of the Air Jordan V, highlighted by a pair covered in desert camouflage. The apparel was coveted as well. There’s just something crazy about seeing a T-shirt with a Jumpman and box logo that was official. That makes this one of the more memorable collaborations of Supreme’s 25-year existence. It also serves as an indicator of how mainstream the brand was becoming. It wasn’t just a skate brand for in-the-know streetwear fans anymore. Its impact was entering a whole new market, something that would continue to progress as the 2010s moved forward. —Mike DeStefano

Nearly two decades after Louis Vuitton forced Supreme to pull a range of  bootlegged monogrammed apparel and skateboard decks, Supreme officially collaborated with the gilded French luxury house thanks to Kim Jones—Louis Vuitton’s creative director of menswear at the time. Jones was no stranger to the brand. He told WWD he knew about the line since the ‘90s and unpacked boxes of Supreme as a college student—he worked at Gimme Five, one of the few retailers that stocked it in London. The collection consisted of six different styles of bags, monogrammed box logo hoodies, a monogrammed box logo T-shirt, a monogrammed trunk, skateboard decks, and more. Like any Supreme drop, the collection led to long lines at pop-ups and exorbitant resale prices online. Although Jones’ Fall 2017 collection shouldn’t be the only thing people think of when examining his tenure at Louis Vuitton; it best represents how he re-energized the centuries-old brand with a youthful sensibility that paved the road for the brand’s current artistic director of menswear, Virgil Abloh. With a Louis Vuitton collaboration under their belt, Supreme seamlessly permeated into the world of luxury and is now seen in established auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s. —Lei Takanashi

One of the most interesting conundrums Supreme has faced this decade is the unlikely rise of a bootlegging empire. In 2017, Supreme sued International Brand Firm and Trade Direct for selling bootlegged garments bearing Supreme’s box logo as the brand “Supreme Italia.” 

IBF bootleged Supreme by utilizing a tactic known as "a bad faith filing" which is when a counterfeiter hijacks a trademark by filing a different version of it. IBF went on to sell products with a counterfeit red box logo trademark, not an actual registered mark, which is illegal. Furthermore, this doesn’t mean Supreme Italia’s applications for similar trademarks were approved in all the countries it sent applications to. Currently, IBF has not registered a real Supreme trademark anywhere in Europe. Meanwhile, Supreme New York has successfully registered over 120 trademarks, copyright and design trademarks, worldwide. 

So when the real Supreme sued Supreme Italia, it was able to initially stop some of the bootlegging. Italy’s Supreme Court ruled that Supreme Italia was participating in “parasitic competition” by stealing the Supreme brand. Supreme Italia had its counterfeit goods seized by the police and it can no longer produce, distribute, or run shops in Italy. However, IBF simply launched another fake, Supreme Spain. Today, Supreme New York is currently in an ongoing legal battle with Supreme Spain. The counterfeit brand is currently allowed to continue operating its stores until the larger case is resolved. 

Originally, when Supreme New York sent in a trademark application to the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office, the EUIPO denied the brand’s application on the grounds that the brand name “Supreme” wasn’t distinct enough to be trademarked. However, when Supreme New York applied again, the EUIPO ruled that Supreme New York was a distinct and well recognized brand in English speaking countries. Supreme is currently moving on to the next phase of getting the brand trademarked in all EU territories. 

Although IBF landed a collaboration with Samsung, it was subsequently canceled this year after Samsung discovered it was working with a counterfeit organization. Although IBF opened two fake Supreme stores in China this year—one location in Shanghai is seven-stories tall and includes a half pipe—and a store in Barcelona, IBF recently had its trademark application in China revoked and has lost all its trademarks in China. This year, Jebbia finally commented on Supreme Italia, calling it a “criminal enterprise” and "People should know that the idea of legal fakes is a complete farce.” Michele di Pierro, the founder of Supreme Italia, told the Wall Street Journal this year that shoppers weren’t buying his products because of the box logo but because of the quality. But the Wall Street Journal also revealed that Pierro is a convicted criminal who previously ran two fraudulent business practices in the past. 

Although it has been a legal pain for the brand, Supreme has recently achieved a great number of legal victories against IBF. But what Supreme Italia/Spain really shows us is that Supreme has truly risen to the level of luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Gucci. A brand whose iconic logo is considered to be such a high status symbol it can proliferate a bootlegging empire.

One billion dollars. That is how much the Carlyle Group valued Supreme at in October 2017 when it purchased 50 percent of the streetwear giant from Jebbia for $500 million. The investment, coupled with a Louis Vuitton collaboration a few months prior, solidified Supreme as the most notorious streetwear brand in the mainstream. —Mike DeStefano

After Supreme was gifted that bag from the Carlyle Group, it began expanding its stores. After opening a store in Paris the year before, the brand opened its second New York City store in the heart of hipster Williamsburg in Brooklyn. It was the first Supreme store to open with a skate bowl in over a decade. The store exclusive box logo T-shirt featured a camouflage box logo and the store’s phone number printed on the back.  A second New York store was much needed considering how much the brand has grown since 1994. —Lei Takanashi

At the 2018 Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards, Jebbia beat Raf Simons, Tom Ford, Thom Browne, and Virgil Abloh for Menswear Designer of the Year award. Jebbia joined the ranks of other legendary recipients such as Ralph Lauren, Raf Simons, Helmut Lang, and Marc Jacobs. In Jebbia’s terse acceptance speech he said, “I never saw Supreme as a fashion company or myself as a designer.” A humble, and honest statement from one of fashion’s greatest tastemakers. However, Jebbia and Supreme receiving the award was not well received by some critics. Vanessa Friedman, fashion director and chief fashion critic for The New York Times, labeled Supreme’s win as “the biggest upset of the night.” However, the streetwear brand's win set a precedent for how we define a fashion designer. —Lei Takanashi

This past April, Supreme celebrated its silver anniversary. To represent the 25-year milestone, the brand collaborated with Swarovski for special versions of its always-coveted box logo T-shirts and hoodies. Each featured a box logo handcrafted in New York City with thousands of shimmering Swarovski crystals. Tons of streetwear brands fade in and out of relevance in just a handful of years. Supreme is one of the lucky few who has lasted over two decades, and it hasn’t just lasted. It’s grown to be arguably the most recognizable streetwear brand ever. With product still just as desired as it has ever been, chances are the next decade will further solidify the already-impressive legacy of Jebbia’s skate shop in SoHo. —Mike DeStefano

The closing of Supreme’s original Lafayette Street store served as a proper bookend for its spectacular rise within the past decade. Originally a clubhouse for skaters in Downtown New York, Supreme’s location on 274 Lafayette Street was said to be originally closed for renovations earlier this year. The store opened a new location at 190 Bowery that was supposed to be temporary. But in September, “For Lease” signs officially appeared on the windows of 274 Lafayette and this marked the end of an era for the brand. A month later, Supreme expanded further and opened its newest store on Market Street, which borders a downtrodden neighborhood in Downtown San Francisco. Its second outpost on the West Coast, the store’s newest location symbolized the growing pains of a massively successful streetwear brand trying to hold on to its roots in skateboard culture. —Lei Takanashi