In what some may view as a stunning upset, Supreme, the global streetwear mega brand has been sold to apparel holdings company VF brands, that owns Timberland, Northface, Dickies and Vans.
From Vogue Business:
Since streetwear and luxury began to converge in 2017, with the launch of the Supreme x Louis Vuitton collaboration, brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior and Burberry have adopted aspects of the streetwear business model, using product drops, scarcity and logomania to drive consumer demand, particularly among younger generations, while collaborating with streetwear brands like Supreme, Stüssy or Bape to drive interest. Supreme was valued at $1 billion in the same year as the Louis Vuitton collaboration, making it the first-ever billion-dollar streetwear brand and a good barometer of the category (Carlyle sold its 50 per cent stake to VF Corp as part of the new deal). The casualisation of fashion and Supreme’s resilience during Covid-19 is what led VF Corp to pay over double its 2017 value price, says VF Corp chief financial officer Scott Roe.
Some in the streetwear community, who are largely responsible for the hype surrounding the brand, might view this as a “selling out.” Then again, Supreme is a clothing company, isn’t selling out the business mode?
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