Unpopular opinions
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Amazingballs marketing…
Exactly this.
I have a book called “Supremacist” which is a fiction novel doubling as an in depth study into how Supreme market and why it is so popular/ hard to get/ pricey at resale.
On a side note, I was looking at how much some of my old Supreme gear goes for which I sold….and I could cry. It seems that I sold about $10’000 worth of stuff for a few hundred pounds. In better news, the only box logo tee I kept is now worth about $2000!! So that’s being shrink wrapped and put away for a rainy day.
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Man I'd sell that, there's no guarantee it will retain or exceed that value.
Hype sucks. I prefer for intrinsic value such as that driven by quality, labor, materials, construction, ethical treatment of workers in the supply chain, and design to drive the cost of goods. I can justify IH based on factors like this. Though it's getting harder to keep doing so for Acronym as the hype flies off the rails, I'd say the same of them. I don't know Supreme, but on the face of things I haven't seen anything I could justify the cost with, and I have seen extraordinarily douchy people wearing it, so that's gonna be a no from me dawg [emoji23]
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I have seen extraordinarily douchy people wearing it…
Interesting point. The two oldest boys in my house are very aware of Supreme as it’s teen-tastic in Norway. When @Megatron1505 had a Tommy size jacket for sale on IG recently I offered to buy it for them, thinking they’d be ecstatic. They both declined based on the fact that while they acknowledge it’s cool factor and the peer approval it would have gained them, the only people who actually wore Supreme at their school were all dickheads [emoji23]
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That’s why we wear it
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To close out my view on Supreme, I know it’s hyped to fuck, I know it’s worn by dickheads, I know that much (not all) of what they produce lacks the tangible quality of the Japanese brands, none of this is news to me.
However, if you’re a certain age and identify with parts of the sub culture that brand has represented for the last 24 years then you know that there was a time when this wasn’t the case. There was a time when Supreme was the underground brand that you discussed on forums and got an acknowledging nod from those in the know.
Unlike Iron Heart, Supreme is not a brand which brings people together…. if anything it drives them apart, but in a strange way that is the appeal.
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Regarding the Skateboarding Theme, I skated from 10/11 till 15 I think so 2002 till 2007 but I wasn´t really aware on when it came to the Story of Brands and the Orgins, the Internet wasn´t that big of a thing and the Magazines where focused on the People instead on the Brands, so no Hype really back then, at least here, every Brand basiclly was in the same Price Range in the local Skate Shops.
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Regarding the Skateboarding Theme, I skated from 10/11 till 15 I think so 2002 till 2007 but I wasn´t really aware on when it came to the Story of Brands and the Orgins, the Internet wasn´t that big of a thing and the Magazines where focused on the People instead on the Brands, so no Hype really back then, at least here, every Brand basiclly was in the same Price Range in the local Skate Shops.
I was a skater 1993-1996 in the UK and have never heard of Supreme. We liked Element, Blind, Alien Workshop, ES, Etnies, Emerica, World industries etc. And they were viewed as equal more or less and no brand loyalty, picked whatever we liked the look of lol
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If you’re a certain age and identify with parts of the sub culture that brand has represented for the last 24 years then you know that there was a time when this wasn’t the case. There was a time when Supreme was the underground brand that you discussed on forums and got an acknowledging nod from those in the know
Your basically talking about nostalgia which ironically is massive for me when it comes to Iron Heart (details at another time). But I feel the same way as you about Adidas kicks from my time i Liverpool. Even with the Adidas Originals label becoming diluted by Yeezy’s and awful updated versions of classics, I still go weak at the knees for a nice pair of Samba or Gazelle. I know it isn’t in the same league as Supreme, but it’s something about a time, place and environment that the brand intersects with, that resonates.
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I was a skater 1993-1996 in the UK and have never heard of Supreme. We liked Element, Blind, Alien Workshop, ES, Etnies, Emerica, World industries etc. And they were viewed as equal more or less and no brand loyalty, picked whatever we liked the look of lol
Exactly, it looked good so it was cool, it only had to be a Skate Brand. I always skated Element Decks.Nostalgia wise, I orderd a Powell Perelta Patch for my Levis Type 3
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Regarding the Skateboarding Theme, I skated from 10/11 till 15 I think so 2002 till 2007 but I wasn´t really aware on when it came to the Story of Brands and the Orgins, the Internet wasn´t that big of a thing and the Magazines where focused on the People instead on the Brands, so no Hype really back then, at least here, every Brand basiclly was in the same Price Range in the local Skate Shops.
I was a skater 1993-1996 in the UK and have never heard of Supreme. We liked Element, Blind, Alien Workshop, ES, Etnies, Emerica, World industries etc. And they were viewed as equal more or less and no brand loyalty, picked whatever we liked the look of lol
I’m an old fart. I used to skate from ‘86-‘89. Back then it was all about the Bones Brigade, Christian Hosoi, Santa Cruz, Vision street wear and the like. I’m still nostalgic for old skate graphics, especially Jim Phillips’ stuff
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Don’t mean to one up you,but my first skate board was a roller skate nailed to a piece of wood. The first one I ever bought cost $3 and had metal roller skate wheels,my next one was made by a company called Roller Derby,had wooden wheels and costs $5. It was called a sidewalk surfer. It eventually went down a sewer.
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I'm with a lot of the other guys as well in the fact that I grew up skating (starting in late 80's to late 90's) and had never even heard of Supreme until about a year ago on this here forum. All the other brands mentioned above (Etnies, Element, Alien Workshop, Bones Brigade, Santa Cruz, Independent, Fuct, Vans, Volcom, Toy Machine, etc..) were the big brands on the west coast at the time, at least to the best of my memory. Maybe it was a coastal thing? I believe Supreme was founded in NY so maybe that was partly it.
Also possibly a demographic thing. I didn't grow up around people with money so if Supreme was pricey back then it wasn't something we could have afforded….although a lot of the other brands I have mentioned were considered pricey to a lot of us as well. Either way, when I think skating roots and nostalgia Supreme is not on my radar at all...it's the brands that were out of Cali or popular on the west coast at the time.
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Don’t mean to one up you,but my first skate board was a roller skate nailed to a piece of wood. The first one I ever bought cost $3 and had metal roller skate wheels,my next one was made by a company called Roller Derby,had wooden wheels and costs $5. It was called a sidewalk surfer. It eventually went down a sewer.
My first deck was what we called a banana board which strangely made a weird comeback recently. After that my first "real" board was a Vision Gator.
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Don’t mean to one up you,but my first skate board was a roller skate nailed to a piece of wood. The first one I ever bought cost $3 and had metal roller skate wheels,my next one was made by a company called Roller Derby,had wooden wheels and costs $5. It was called a sidewalk surfer. It eventually went down a sewer.
My first deck was what we called a banana board which strangely made a weird comeback recently. After that my first "real" board was a Vision Gator.
The Gator board is dope. I think my first real deck was by Rob Roskopp and my last was Tommy Guerrero. I also had a Jeff Kendall board and a Christian Hosoi mini hammerhead. Independent trucks all the way [emoji108]
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I also never heard of Supreme until I got into the denim niche. And after I started thinking about it, I realized skating just didn't exist for us. I mean, sure, there were maybe a couple of kids that had boards, but it was about the same level as the dudes that played hackysack at lunch. Nobody considered it a lifestyle or anything. For us, the aspirational outsider-ish thing was surfing, which is utterly moronic, considering I grew up three hours from the ocean, and NC beaches aren't exactly world renowned for their waves.
So the cool brands of my teen years were Ocean Pacific, Quiksilver, Body Glove, O'Neill, and Town & Country. God, I loved T&C t-shirts.
Oh, and everyone, I mean everyone, had to have a Mr. Zog's Sex Wax sticker. Cause, you know, it's "the best for your stick!"
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I also never heard of Supreme until I got into the denim niche. And after I started thinking about it, I realized skating just didn't exist for us. I mean, sure, there were maybe a couple of kids that had boards, but it was about the same level as the dudes that played hackysack at lunch. Nobody considered it a lifestyle or anything. For us, the aspirational outsider-ish thing was surfing, which is utterly moronic, considering I grew up three hours from the ocean, and NC beaches aren't exactly world renowned for their waves.
So the cool brands of my teen years were Ocean Pacific, Quiksilver, Body Glove, O'Neill, and Town & Country. God, I loved T&C t-shirts.
Oh, and everyone, I mean everyone, had to have a Mr. Zog's Sex Wax sticker. Cause, you know, it's "the best for your stick!"
I used to own a T&C tee or two. Surf stuff was semi popular when I skated, even though none of us surfed. JimmyZ’s was also a thing.
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I'm with a lot of the other guys as well in the fact that I grew up skating (starting in late 80's to late 90's) and had never even heard of Supreme until about a year ago on this here forum. All the other brands mentioned above (Etnies, Element, Alien Workshop, Bones Brigade, Santa Cruz, Independent, Fuct, Vans, Volcom, Toy Machine, etc..) were the big brands on the west coast at the time, at least to the best of my memory. Maybe it was a coastal thing? I believe Supreme was founded in NY so maybe that was partly it.
Also possibly a demographic thing. I didn't grow up around people with money so if Supreme was pricey back then it wasn't something we could have afforded….although a lot of the other brands I have mentioned were considered pricey to a lot of us as well. Either way, when I think skating roots and nostalgia Supreme is not on my radar at all...it's the brands that were out of Cali or popular on the west coast at the time.
I was briefly into the street wear thing back in ‘99 through maybe 2001 or 2002. I had 1 Supreme tee back then and that’s it. I was also into Bape, SSUR, Recon, Stussy, Park Walk, Tonite, etc. a lot of those brands were an extension of skateboarding to me, mainly because I was into graphic tees at the time. But over time I felt kinda silly dressing like I was still that 15 yo skater. Nothing against graphic tees but if I do wear them it’ll be at home for the most part
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Well, if we’re ruining this thread by talking about skating count me in. Beats the diets and handbags conversation a few months back (I might have made up the handbags but).
I started with a Gator board (what a loon he turned out to be), then a Santa Cruz Rob Roskop first of the double kick boards. After that I went to H Street and pretty much stayed there, the Eddie Elguera Scarecrow and El Goto boards were my go to for many years.
When I had a brief foray back into skating a few years back I found a company in Canada which makes plain decks to the shape of old classics, so I got the Scarecrow (minus graphics) back again and kitted it out with Gull Wings and G Bones.
True story time…
Back when I was about 11 or 12 the Bones Brigade toured the UK and amazingly did a demo in a place called Forest Town, which is a two street village next to where I live. I always loved ramp skating and went to see Hawk, Caballero and Mountain etc..... but after I saw Rodney Mullen, and had the pleasure of meeting him, I never looked at a ramp again. -
I also never heard of Supreme until I got into the denim niche. And after I started thinking about it, I realized skating just didn't exist for us. I mean, sure, there were maybe a couple of kids that had boards, but it was about the same level as the dudes that played hackysack at lunch. Nobody considered it a lifestyle or anything. For us, the aspirational outsider-ish thing was surfing, which is utterly moronic, considering I grew up three hours from the ocean, and NC beaches aren't exactly world renowned for their waves.
So the cool brands of my teen years were Ocean Pacific, Quiksilver, Body Glove, O'Neill, and Town & Country. God, I loved T&C t-shirts.
Oh, and everyone, I mean everyone, had to have a Mr. Zog's Sex Wax sticker. Cause, you know, it's "the best for your stick!"
I used to own a T&C tee or two. Surf stuff was semi popular when I skated, even though none of us surfed. JimmyZ’s was also a thing.
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I definitely remember T and C and JimmyZ's…damn now we are getting nostalgic. They actually made a T and C video game for Nintendo back in the day. Loved the little Tiki men..
