Urban culture is yet again influencing the marketing of a fashion brand; although, in this case it’s nothing new. All of Supreme’s new designs for the 2018 collection are based on Hip Hop group Public Enemy. We just love how much Supreme gets involved with the Skateboard, Rock, and Hip Hop community, tipping their cap to clothing trends from the 90’s golden era of urban fashion.
This isn’t the first time the New York Skateboarder clothing brand teamed up with the label of Jun Takahashi, they collaborated back in 2006 and 2015. The 2006 collection was a three-way partnership of the two labels with Hong Kong’s Silly Thing collective, a limited edition based on Futura, a graffiti artist from 1980. Then almost a decade later with the participation of expro Skateboarder Jason Dill, they formed the notorious collaboration “Anarchy is Key”, which would later expand due to it’s overwhelming popularity.
What we love is that from a fashion stance Supreme has supported Hip Hop culture all the way through and tried to create a living legacy of those legends of the genre, with limited edition classics such as Raekwon, RZA, Dipset, and Bad Boy Records “Biggie” among many others. At the same time, don’t think that Supreme is only about Rap gods, they’ve also featured photographers, rock and punk bands such as Joy Division and Misfits, and even mainstream Pop Stars such as Britney Spears and Lady Gaga.
This year’s collaboration of Supreme and UNDERGROUND is a tribute to the 1980 Hip Hop band Public Enemy and their critically acclaimed album Fear of a Black Planet (1990). And, although they already featured in one special limited edition for Supreme back in the fall of 2006, the new PE-influenced threads have caused a lot of flutter around Social Media, with thousands of fans arguing that rich kids shouldn’t wear the clothes without knowing what that whole movement meant and what the band stood for.
In any case we have to say that the designs are super cool, especially the Public Enemy tee which will most definitely be the hit of the American summer. The collection became available on Thursday in Paris, LA, New York, and London, and in Tokyo on Saturday.
What do you think? Is Supreme doing a good job of paying homage to the legends of yesterday, or are they just using those references as a way to benefit themselves? Comment below!
