Supreme - Is it Really Worth the Hype ?

No one would have ever thought that streetwear would become as big a business as it is now. There  are many brands of streetwear which have become huge like Off-white, Anti-Social Social Club,  Bape etc. But there is one streetwear brand which has taken over - SUPREME. Even though they  have only 12 stores worldwide, the valuation of the brand stands at ONE BILLION DOLLARS.  The iconic box logo is the one that gains the most attention. 

Supreme is a brand which works on drop culture. They release a limited amount of product online  and in-store. Once the stock is over, no more of the same product would be released. Thus, every  product which gets sold out, is sold at an even higher price on the reselling websites. It is referred to  as “Supremium” by the resellers. 

Let’s have a look at some of the retail prices and reselling prices for their products - 1. Supreme North Face Cargo Vest : Retailed at $168 and flipped at around $450! 2. Supreme Director’s Chair : Retail at $160 and resale around $647! 

3. Supreme Swingline Stapler : Retailed at $28 and resell price was around $102! 4. And the MOST random of all, The Supreme Brick : Retail at $30 and resale at around $150!!! Could you really imagine paying that amount of money, for a freaking BRICK? But, guess what,  Supreme has gotten its customers to actually buy it.  

Supreme was founded by a guy named James Jebbia, who started a small store in New York pro moting streetwear culture. The basic concept on which the brand is built that there would be more  demand for the product which has limited supply. And Supreme has taken full advantage of it too.  The brand understood that people were willing to pay a lot of money for a product which others  couldn't have, no matter how random the product was. 

The logo of the brand had also “taken inspiration” from the work of an artist named Barbara  Kruger. Below you can see, the two side by side images of the artist’s work and then the Supreme  logo.  

When she was asked to comment on a Supreme lawsuit - she trolled them in the best possible way.  She sent an email with the attachment of one image which said “What a ridiculous clusterfuck of  totally uncool jokers.” So the next time you see yourself running behind a Supreme drop, think  whether it is really worth it !