Streetwear brand Supreme to be sold to Timberland owner VF for $2.1bn

Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters

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Supreme, the cult streetwear brand, is being sold to VF Corporation, the Denver-based parent company of Vans, The North Face and Timberland, in a deal valued at $2.1bn.

Founded by James Jebbia, a UK-raised child actor turned skateboarder who created the brand at a small downtown New York store in 1989, Supreme has been at the forefront of a streetwear revolution that, in terms of marketing and exclusivity, has turned the fashion industry on its head.

Sometimes called ā€œthe Chanel of streetwearā€, Supreme ā€“ named for John Coltraneā€™s A Love Supreme ā€“ has maintained its appeal with tightly controlled product releases, known as ā€œdropsā€, that often have fans queueing around the block at its 12 global locations.

The brand has maintained its status among youth counter-culture with limited edition collaborations with contemporary artists, actors and musicians ā€“ among them Lou Reed and Chloe Sevigny, who both served as brand ambassadors, Kaws, Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami and Richard Prince, as well as bands including the Clash and the Misfits.

Alongside clothing and accessories, Supreme has also released Supreme calendars, shot by photographers including the Kids director Larry Clark, and skateboard decks featuring the work of New York art stars such as Jeff Koons and Nate Lowman.

According to VF, Supreme currently generates more than $500m in annual revenues, up from around $200m in 2017. According to VF, more than 60% of Supremeā€™s revenue comes from online orders. The company said it expects revenues to grow 8-10% over the next three years.

VFā€™s chief executive, Steve Rendle, said the company would take a hands-off approach to managing Supreme. ā€œWe are not coming in to make changes. Weā€™re here to support and enable ā€¦ a high performing business,ā€ he said.

VF said that Jebbia and the senior leadership team will stay on at the company.

In a note to clients, Wells Fargo Securities said Supreme ā€œneeds to be careful about driving growth without losing the brandā€™s ā€˜secret sauceā€™.ā€

Supremeā€™s resale market suggests that is yet to happen: its T-shirts and hoodies often sell out immediately and can later be found being resold for multiples of their purchase price. In the past, Jebbia has sought to reassure fans that expansion does not necessarily mean Supreme is going mass market.

ā€œI think a lot of people still want us to be this exclusive, precious brand, but weā€™re not at all,ā€ said Jebbia told Business of Fashion in a rare interview when Supreme opened a store in Paris in 2016.

ā€œWeā€™re a brand for the people,ā€ he added. ā€œIā€™m not really concerned if people have this purist view of the New York Supreme thing,ā€ he added. ā€œIf they think opening our shop in Paris is going to harm our brand, then we canā€™t really be that strong of a brand.ā€