Beginnings, gear, collabs, lawsuits, and more.
Supreme was started by James Jebbia, who opened up a small skate shop on Lafayette street in New York to sell brands such as Stussy. The shop quickly became a renowned hangout spot, and became the place to be in New York. Now as a billion dollar brand, Supreme has collab'd with any and every celebrity known to the human race, such as Michael Jordan, Neil Young, Lady Gaga, and Kermit the Frog, just to name a few.
On the path to fame, Supreme has braved lawsuits from heavyweights like Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton, the NCAA and the NHL. Even they're logo has surrounded by controversy, as a close-copy of the pop-art work of Barbara Krueger. Maybe it's bad karma that Supreme now faces a sea of copy-cats, such as Supreme Italia, who have set up fake-supreme stores all around the world.
Recently, Supreme was bought out by the Carlyle Group for a cool 500 million; a group which has been involved in some pretty shady dealings, and who very well could have ties with the 9/11 tragedy, as many theorists have ogled over. What do you think?
With growth-hungry investors, Supreme is destined on a track of unprecedented growth. The question is, can the skateshop-turned-fashion brand make a go of it, or will they crumble under the pressure?