Wow Kite Man, you're looking... fashionable. How much did all that tasteless clothing set you back?
Ummmm...
About 2000 dollars.
(Music)
Clothing is one of the primary ways humans express themselves
visually. The clothes you choose to drape over your disgusting, lumpy,
sweaty bodies says a lot about you. Naturally, fashion branding, celebrities, and pop culture
dictate what is viewed as trendy or valuable.
And there isn't really a brand that represents the antithesis of that idea
more than Supreme. Supreme started off as a one-off store based in downtown Manhattan primarily designed to appeal to the
skateboarding, hip-hop, and other youth culture crowds of the early 90s. Fast forward to now, and Supreme makes hundreds of millions of dollars in
profits and their products are more desirable than ever. Their entire business model is built around
artificial scarcity. A tactic companies like Nintendo have employed in the past to drive sales by making their products appear to be more limited,
fashionable, and scarce than perhaps they actually are or could be.
James Jebbia, founder of Supreme, has been quoted as saying that "their short runs of clothing is simply because they don't want to get stuck with stuff nobody wants."
Which is obvious tosh you'd have to be a fool to believe.
It's all about perception. As soon as someone hears that there are only a hampered number of a said product available,
then it immediately becomes more alluring to cash in your chance at joining the exclusive club.
If you go to the Supreme website outside of a sales period, you'll notice that nothing is actually available for
purchase until their arbitrary new collection begins. Again, reinforcing how exclusive and out of the ordinary their clothing is.
Only encouraging the mad rush of buyers desperate to get any product
they can with the logo printed on it. With some complete maniacs even camping outside a week before or even paying
stupid amounts for bots who can quickly place an order for you right as the store opens a new wave of clothing,
just to have a chance at snagging a new ugly jacket or shirt. Honestly, in terms of running a business
it's a very effective way to drive sales and none of really what I've said
I have a problem with. If there are people willing to buy, then by all means sell your absurdly expensive products.
Everything about Supreme is bold and over-the-top. It's gaudy, simple with harsh contrasting colors that are mostly very
"show-offy". Fully embracing the purposeful lack of subtlety of the 90s. All the way down to that
ridiculous price tag. A price tag that is high enough when first released but often highly inflated by the
scalpers and sellers who are able to get away with magnifying their worth because of how scarce
they are compared to the demand. I'd say in my opinion about five to ten percent of Supreme products look just fine.
I'd never purchase or wear any of it myself,
but if you're genuinely into the products for how they look and you're okay with wasting what could otherwise be money to live off
for months then go for it. But dear God
this company has me questioning if their entire existence isn't some kind of sick social
experiment to see how far they can take the piss of what they can get away with selling
Let me explain. there was some debate over whether the famous Supreme Box logo is drawn from the iconic style of the
1979 propaganda piece of conceptual art by Barbara Kruger named "I shop therefore I am".
An obvious and blatant critique of consumerism which,
amusingly, would probably sell for hundreds of dollars on the official Supreme website if printed on a Supreme t-shirt.
You only have to see the two side-by-side to see that it's a complete and total
ripoff of the artwork. Even the owner of Supreme himself did wind up admitting to basically stealing the design.
But the irony certainly isn't lost on that one. Supreme is almost worth existing for how hilarious this is alone
It's almost a parody of itself.
Kruger, the original artist, eventually acknowledged the fellows at Supreme by describing them as "a clusterfuck of totally uncool jokers."
Basically doing my job for me.
So with this idea in mind,
Let's take a look at some of the laughably on-the-nose
products that Supreme have peddled in the past and people have flocked to pay for like a bunch of fucking seagulls. Most infamous in my
mind is the money gun. Capable of quite literally shooting notes of money as if it were as meaningless as confetti. Originally selling for about
$88, but now going for hundreds on eBay... for some reason
Or, how about the Supreme brick. An ordinary clay brick with the logo printed on it?
Which also sells for hundreds upon hundreds of dollars in the second-hand market.
You can't make this up. There's not a more foolish accessory. Oh, wait, hang on there if there are plenty more.
So, I'm gonna put three Supreme products on the screen and one of them is fake and Photoshopped
Try to guess which one. So, we've got these embarrassing Supreme nunchucks, this utterly pointless Supreme
crowbar all these random Supreme bolt cutters. So take a note of which you think is fake aaaand
Okay, I was lying. They're all real
Hey and for only half a grand off eBay.
You can make your dog a hype beast too with a Supreme dog bowl. The stupid accessories never end. I swear
these are all real. Go and look them up yourself.
Okay so let's leave the
accessories behind for a minute and talk about the actual clothing, the real allure of the brand. Probably the most repulsive
clothing I've ever seen from them is the H.R Giger set of hoodies and shirts. Now,
I think H.R Giger, who you probably know is the concept artist behind Alien, was an amazing artist.
But I would never want to wear what Supreme did with his classic pieces of art
These revolting items are about as tasteful as those wolf howling shirts you'd find for a fiver in your local town in the Friday morning high
street sale.
Oh, but hang on it says Supreme on it Chuck a few zeros on the end. Then that's more like it!
Sup!
These Supreme "Nike Air Mores" are a good
"meme" with the text garishly
plastered over the shoe, the Supreme logo looks like it's about to burst out the fabric,
like a bunch of boils that are ready to explode.
All you have to do is take a quick look at the website to see how bad some of these designs are. Obviously beauty is
in the eye of the beholder and all that but
come on.
Come on.
There's something about the way the official website displays their products that's so cocky to me.
Yeah, look at us, we're so ultimate that we named our company Supreme
We are literally Supreme. We could kidnap your own mother and sell her back to you for six hundred bucks,
as long as we slap the logo on her forehead and you'd pay for it!
Supreme aren't a revolutionary company.
All of the things I've mentioned in this video has been proven to be tried and tested to make money for countless years.
Brands that people perceive as quality or antique can naturally use their hungry audience for monetary gain.
I just worry more for Supreme fans wallets more than anything else.
You poor things.
I mean as long as you're happy with blowing your cash to become a living billboard for a multi-million dollar company
that is so unoriginal that they stole their own logo. Then go for it.
But to me, it seems as though people aren't even particularly interested in the clothing or accessories in and of themselves,
but are more into the idea of it. What it represents. The exclusivity. Taking pleasure in the fact that them purchasing one of their overpriced
products means that that's one less available for another person to own. If you think that collecting Supreme accessories or clothing is somehow more
Legitimate or cool than collecting comic books or other dorky things, it really isn't...
It's just a different form of the same obsession. You may justify it in your head by thinking that Supreme
somehow makes you unique or special because of how limited it is,
but just ask yourself if what you're dropping hundreds for is actually unique because it's so impressive,
stylish, and rare or because a billion-dollar corporation told you that it was.
Subscribe for more videos and make sure you leave a comment about why I'm wrong that I won't read. Bye!
(Music)