He recently told CNBC Make It about the rigorous process he had to go through just to secure a spot in line at a recent Supreme product drop event in New York City. Migraine has been collecting clothing and other items made by Supreme since roughly 2011. Joe Migraine (a pseudonym, for privacy reasons) is a Supreme super-fan who also works full-time on the streetwear unit at the website StockX, an online marketplace for re-selling high-end fashion products. Supreme shoppers at these events will pay anywhere from $30 to $100 for a shirt or a hat, and from $150 to over $450 for a jacket. Gage adds that Supreme's collaborations with high-end luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Gucci "really push the boundaries" of how consumers view skateboarding culture.Īnd whether Supreme is releasing a new line of its own apparel and accessories, or if Jebbia's company is dropping new items from its latest big-name collaboration, it's become commonplace for Supreme fans - dubbed "Supreme-heads" - to line up for hours on end outside a store for product release events that sometimes sell out in a matter of minutes. "Over the years, they've worked with all kinds of different artists, all kinds of different brands, and it's part of what makes the brand so cool," Justin Gage, a data scientist and streetwear analyst, tells CNBC Make It. It was a decade before Supreme opened a second location, in Los Angeles, and today the brand has two stores in New York City, six in Japan and outposts in Paris and London, while a location in San Francisco opened in 2019.Īlong the way, Supreme's fashion world street cred has been bolstered by high-profile collaborations with the likes of luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton as well as iconic global brands like Nike, Vans and Levi's.
Over the past 26 years, the brand has expanded at a snail's pace, reluctant to relinquish Supreme's standing as a symbol of the underground, in-the-know streetwear fashion scene.
When the first Supreme store opened, the first employees were extras from the movie "Kids," according to Vogue.
The Supreme brand even sponsors a team of professional skaters that originally included skateboarders and actors Justin Pierce and Harold Hunter, who both starred in the 1995 cult classic film "Kids" - a controversial movie that both drew on skating culture and fashion of the mid-90s, while itself influencing both.
Now, Denver-based apparel company VF Corp has announced that it is buying Supreme for $2.1 billion - a deal that will place the trendy streetwear brand under the umbrella of a company that also owns such mainstream apparel brands as Vans, Timberland and The North Face. Supreme declined interview requests for this article.)Ĭarlyle's investment had some wondering exactly how a marketing-shy skateboard shop with a cult following fits in the portfolio of a private equity giant that's previously invested in the likes of car rental giant Hertz, consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton and Dunkin' Donuts fast-food chain operator Dunkin' Brands. (Supreme is a private company and does not report revenue, but the company was projected to hit $100 million in annual revenue in 2017, the year of the Carlyle investment, Women's Wear Daily reported at the time. It's exactly that sort of rabid loyalty that spurred a reported $500 million investment (for a roughly 50% stake), valuing the company at $1 billion, from The Carlyle Group in 2017. That's because the brand has managed to amass a growing following even as it's come to symbolize the ultimate in underground cool.