Why is Supreme so expensive? Nike Air Force 1 arriving

Why is the supreme brand so expensive?

Supreme has gone from being a neighborhood store with t -shirts, hoodic sweatshirtRisk The Carlyle Group).

For his fans, Supreme is much more than a luxury or dry brand.For your fans, it is a lifestyle.An unnameable.Something.Again, the same word: exclusivity.

Only this is explained, for example, the prices of the famous collaboration between Supreme and Louis Vuitton or The North Face.Two almost identical coats, both with the same waterproof design and Gore-Text technology;one costs $ 300 and the other $ 1,300.The difference?You have guessed it, the embroidery of the hood in which "supreme" is read.

The first shirt of the Supreme brand with an image with Copyright was that of Taxi Driver;In essence, a photograph of the protagonist of the film, Travis Bickle, with the iconic supreme logo.In the beginning, the firm was famous for a time for simply stealing content with copyright.They received even a demand from Louis Vuitton.Today, they collaborate with her.

Nuances.

A company nothing conventional

Supreme did not register its name and logo globally until 2013. And even so, we are facing a thorny terrain that translates into something very simple: thousands and thousands of imitations have camp (and bell) at ease in countless countries.Especially Asians.In Thailand, for example, it is easy to buy a supreme shirt for just over one euro.

In Spain we have Supreme Spain and in Switzerland Italfigo, all shameless copies of the original that take advantage of the numerous legal gaps caused by pure carelessness.

That said, the legend is true: supreme put on sale a brick.

Wearing supreme is synonymous with being cool.At least, on Instagram it works like this.The brand, whose communication policy is similar to that of area 51 or the CIA, barely issues opinions about it.

The only thing that does supreme is to get a few new products once a week and in a very limited way.What the resellers do with them (also known as HypebeasTs) or Tiktok's influencers is out of control.

To understand what we are talking about: three supreme skate tables designed by Jeff Koons were auctioned for $ 16,250 in 2006.

Who invented the brand and where was it created?

Supreme was born in 1994 in the Soho neighborhood, in New York.While working for Stussy firm, James Jebbia realized that, in addition to Hip Hop, the urban culture of skateboarding began to have a strong presence.Jebbia instantly captured that all the component of this new urban tribe shared a certain aura of cool mysticism.He felt very attracted and decided to do something about it.

Jebbia opened his first store on Lafayette Street.It cost $ 12,000 the first month, and it soon became a place of pilgrimage between fans to the table on wheels.

But that was not just a store.

Today, supreme establishments are like museums.Skateboard fashion boutiques.The first of all already had that 100% anti-teaching: that was like a club of friends.It didn't even need to buy anything.People used to go around the place, greet the parishioners and little else.The atmosphere was mythical and soon running the voice.

That we are not talking about a normal company evidenced by the exercise of trying to buy a product of novelty.Forget simply go to the store and choose when I want to you.

Ha!

How and where to buy supreme

When did price madness begin?

Although the firm was founded in 1994, the madness for the Supreme products begins at some time in the 2010s. It is likely that the rapper responsible for Jesus Is King, Kanye West, had great guilt of everything that came later.

After being photographed in the Grammy with the Supreme Blazer SB shoes (Supreme Collaboration with Nike, by the way), the value of the pair of shoes in the resale market became 800 when in the store only 150 dollars cost.

Shortly after, in 2011, Tyler The Creator (Remember, the author of the best rap album in 2019 despite not being a rap album, Igor), he put on his part.The rapper wore the famous sweatshirt with the brand logo in the SHE video clip (where she collaborates with Frank Ocean).Although the sweatshirt cost 150 new dollars in store (which is already a somewhat crazy price), its resale value reached $ 3,500 according to Business Insider.

The list of celebrities who have been seen with supreme clothes is long long and contains many rappers such as Rza or Mobb Deep.

Postmodern contemporary art icon (or postposmoderno?)

Art plays a fundamental role in Supreme.In fact, the reason for being of the brand is impossible to understand if it is separated from the artistic factor and, more specifically, from the path initiated by conceptual artists such as Marcel Duchamp or, of course, Andy Warhol.

Another story is that they are looking at it.Although it is well paradox, it could be applied to contemporary art as a whole.In the firm of James Jebbia everything is symbolic.A supreme shirt is not just a shirt.It's a supreme shirt.

Let's look at Barbara Kruger's works, a fundamental inspiration of the supreme logo.Let's look at her most important work, that photograph where you read: "I buy, then I exist" (in allusion to the famous phrase of Descartes).Isn't it evident that we are facing something that goes beyond fashion?Yes.

Part of the fault that everything that the supreme logo carries is the object of worship has its reason for being in contemporary art.Just take a look at some of the names with which its founder has collaborated: Larry Clark, Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, Christopher Wool or Damien Hirst.But also Kate Moss.

The same thing happens to Supreme to art: that is open to interpretations.

You have to be clear about one thing: Supreme cannot control that Kylie Jenner decides to raise a selfie wearing one of her shirts.Supreme cannot regulate or put order in the current value of pose / flexo that gives all influencer (or aspiring to be) to wear one of her garments.

Supreme's resale business

It is not risky to affirm that almost all of the people who queue every Thursday in a supreme store have a single objective in mind: resell.

In this regard, James Jebbia said in one of his very few public interventions (an interview in 2002) the following:

Although it is difficult to join the words "affordable" and "supreme" in the same phrase, the truth is that the prices of their store products are normal for a signature of this type.Different history is that they put limited units on sale.Something that obviously clashes frontally with this supposed (and laudable) mission of launching affordable fashion for skaters.

Fundamental guilt of Supreme to be associated with expensive prices is the fault of the resalls. Is this good to supreme in the cosntruction of brand and prestige image?

Undoubtedly.

Supreme Oreo

Recently, the Oreo cookie manufacturing company announced a collaboration with Supreme.To those who know the brand should not surprise you.They have been sold from electric scooters to fire extinguishers or bars.

On February 20, the Supreme Oreo was put on sale: eight dollars for a three cookie package.It would be absurd to eat them.

In 2017, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York launched Metro cards for a few days with the supreme logo.They cost five dollars and you couldn't know for sure what subway stations dispensed them.The burst on eBay were $ 50 to $ 1,000.

And yes, the supreme brick we have mentioned before is true.The brand put several for sale at a price of 30 dollars in September 2016 and sold out in a few minutes minutes.Both in physical stores and in your online store.Right now there are several on EBAY at about 200-300 euros.

Within a few days, the Nike Air Force 1 supreme.Show must go.