In November 2020, Supreme was acquired for $2.1 billion by US conglomerate VF Corp, which also owns Vans and Timberland. At the time, brand puritans feared that the acquisition would undermine Supreme’s proprietary nature, as VF might make it more accessible to the general public.
Today, the streetwear giant unveiled some news that will surely dispel any doubts regarding the brand’s intentions. James Jebbiah, who founded Supreme in 1994 and has overseen all operations since, revealed that the designer Tremaine Emory would now serve as the brand’s creative director. He will fill the position left vacant following the departure of Angelo Baque (the founder of Awake NY) in 2017.
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Tremaine Emory Tremaine Emory. © Jamie McCarthy
It’s hardly surprising that Supreme wanted to bring in Tremaine Emory. The designer, who founded the label Denim Tears – endorsed by Ye and A$AP Nast, has become one of the key players in the fashion industry over the past decade. He cut his teeth with Marc Jacobs in the New York and London retail teams for nine years, before becoming artistic director of the Stüssy brand. In addition to running his own label, which he launched in 2019 and is famous for its flower-embellished denim, Tremaine Emory is also one of the masterminds of the No Vacancy Inn collective.
For a long time, brands have been scrambling to work on the designer who counts among his closest collaborators Off-White, New Balance, Levi’s, Converse, Champion, Ugg, or even Our Legacy. Singer Frank Ocean also called on the designer to help him create his fanzine Boys Don’t Cry in 2017.
Growing up in Queens, Tremaine Emory will no doubt help Supreme maintain its “cool” factor: “It’s a good move for Supreme,” says Ross Wilson, who is one of the brand’s biggest collectors in the world and a close friend of James Jebbiah. “When VF took over the brand, both parties promised that the basic infrastructure, core team and way of working would remain the same, so it’s good to see James sticking to his guns and bringing in a friend close to the brand who understands it, rather than a person recruited by the company who does not understand it.”
Tremaine Emory’s fashion work is steeped in historical references. For his collaboration with Levi’s in 2020, he focused on his African American origins by decorating jeans with cotton plants, exploring the role of the white flower Gossypium in the history of black people. The podcast host SolefulKish Kash, who considers Tremaine Emory a close friend, told GQ that he was curious to see how the designer would apply the educational aspect of his work to Supreme: “Everything James Jebbiah does is so carefully thought out and this nomination is no different. This is an extremely excited chapter for Supreme and that can only be positive. Tremaine is definitely going to bring something new and thoughtful to the brand that we haven’t seen yet.”
Supreme reported that Tremaine Emory has already started his new job. With the weekly drop system that characterizes Supreme, it’s only a matter of time before we see what the designer will bring to the American brand.
Via British GQ.
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