2023-08-21 11:14:04
While the former favorite brand of stylish skaters is going through a bad patch, Pharrell triumphs with a Louis Vuitton Homme reincarnated in a couture version of Supreme. An irreversible transfer of cool?
And if we put in parallel the recent tumble of Supreme in the fashion barometer (but also in its sales, with a 7% drop in its turnover for 2023) with the just as recent transformation of Louis Vuitton into a “cultural brand” driven by Pharrell Williams aka “Skateboard P” (his first collection containing some beautiful skate tropisms). Taking a step back, we have the impression that Surpeme had its soul co-opted in 2017, during the collab between the “small” New York skate brand and the big French house, then being dragged into an infernal spiral of unfortunate collabs that paid off a lot – at first.
It was also just following this collab that the streetwear turn of haute couture was confirmed, when a certain Virgil Abloh took over the helm of Louis Vuitton’s men’s collection in 2018. He was then known for his brand Off- White – whose logo had been “inspired” by a skate brand, H-Street. Virgil will create the first Vuitton skate shoe – with skater Lucien Clarke. In this case, skateboarding is everywhere.
On the Supreme side, in the wake of the 2017 mega-coup, its founder James Jebbia sold half of his shares to the Carlyle group for 500 million. The brand then activates the war machine of the most fearful collabs, collects a maximum of dough, then resells Supreme for 2.1 billion to VF Corp (Vans, The North Face, or Timberland) in 2020. This is the beginning of the end. In 2023, sales are down (in March, net profits were down more than 20%), the days of store lines are over, and everyone is predicting Supreme’s hyper-decline. And meanwhile, Louis Vuitton Homme seems to have transformed into a couture version of Supreme.
The clues of this “Supremisation” during the grand parade of the Pont Neuf? There is already this giant advertisement starring Rihanna, with in the foreground a bright red bag with the Vuitton monogram. A red that is amusingly reminiscent of a certain collab from 2017… According to Pharrell, this bag and its bright color were inspired, like the rest of the collection, by “Canal Street”. Canal Street? A street in Manhattan located close to the first Supreme store. And what regarding the newspaper made in parallel with the parade, in partnership with the New York Times? Already done in 2018 by Supreme, with the New York Post…
Yet another sign, the reference Insta account SupremeLeaksNews, which only posts Supreme, Palace, Stussy, etc. releases, made several posts on the Vuitton show. In the comments, we read: “Supreme x LV Part II”, or even “Copping Supreme”. But does this transfer of hype mark the end of cool for Supreme? No !
GIVEN FOR DEAD?
Because the brand seems to be realigning itself with its original values and culture, skateboarding and the underground. Which makes all its cultural weight… Recently, we find exciting collabs – even Kim has started wearing the brand once more (see photo) –, as with the skate brand Hardies, the collective Bernadette Corporation, or with the fisherman HoodFishing Entertainment. If VF Corp was aiming for $600 million in revenue for this year’s fiscal year, Supreme only reached $523 million… If that number drops below $300 million, Supreme might just be as cool as it was when it started. This is all the evil we wish them.
By Jean-Baptiste Chiara
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