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Supreme is a street wear brand from New York, which seems to hold a lot of 'hype' around it and I went to see what this excitement was all about.
(@supremenewyork)
It was 7am on a Thursday, as this was the time I was told to get to the London Soho Supreme shop by my friends who are used to coming to these 'drops'. To my surprise the queue stretched across four streets at such an early time. I joined the endless queue, where I was accompanied by a large crowd of people, mostly boys, ranging from about 10 years old to grown adults. Even parents were lining up with their children, which gave me the impression that parents are buying their young children brands that are so expensive, perhaps to fit in with their friends. I spent a lot of time analysing my surroundings to realise that most people had come prepared to wait, until 11am when the shop will open, sitting on their camp chairs. Some people were even discussing that they had camped overnight.
(@supremenewyork)
This is completely normal. Every Thursday, Supreme releases chunks of new content at its ten stores across Europe, America and Japan, hundreds of people skip school or work to get clothes for the retailed price. The people who spend so much of their time queuing for Supreme are essentially a subculture in itself, as no other brand has people committing to the extent as they do for Supreme. The day before Supreme releases new items, the 'SupTalk' group chat on Facebook, including 60,000 members, discuss what items are most wanted and will sell for more money, this prepares people who queue up for Supreme to buy as many of that specific item, in however many colours and sizes, that they can. Afterwards, they would stand outside the shop selling it for people still in the queue, or resell it at a higher price online.
(@supremenewyork)
Why is there such a 'hype' for this, why are people selling a t-shirt that was originally £38 for £70-80? What makes people miss their own commitments to wait outside a shop for hours before it opens? I would say that the fame of the brand is the most cited reason. Once celebrities such as Kanye West or Drake are seen wearing Supreme, it inspires people to then use up all of their money, no matter how they either earned or received it, on the same make. It could also be argued that people wear it genuinely because the clothes are of good quality, hence their price, and they make people feel good wearing it. Similarly, a Supreme buyer and collector explained, "In some regards, what makes people want to buy Supreme is the competitive, social aspect - to be able to go out in public and feel like you're less likely to be wearing clothes that everyone else is wearing." Additionally, since Supreme was founded by James Jebbia in 1994, the store has continuously made limited amounts of product, and as there is not so much of it selling, that could increase the desire for people to want it, in the fear of it being run out. This is demonstrated in the statistic that anything which sells on the online website, immediately gets sold out within a matter of minutes, hence the new creation of Bots that do it for you. Lastly, it could be due to the authenticity of the brand, it was initially made for skateboarders who wore the clothing because they wanted something new and different to wear, they did not have the intention to buy it because it was thought to be 'trendy' as at that time, because it was hardly known. Therefore, people could be buying the brand now, to feel as authentic as the original people who initially wore it.
(@supremenewyork)
Overall, Supreme is a brand that will remain in fashion and street wear culture because of the fame the brand holds due to the fashionable celebrities that wear it, as well as the uniqueness and rarity of the clothes, the limited stock that prolongs the queuing outside of the shop and the authenticity of the brand. These factors are the reasons why people obsess over Supreme.