James Jebbia has taken Supreme from its beginnings as as a skate shop on Lafayette Street in Manhattan in 1994 to a global brand with a legion of devoted followers [that includes some of the largest fashion comanies on the planet]. Cool is what they sell and they do so in numbers limited to create desire and buzz. The weekly Thursday "drops" on Lafayette street are the stuff of legend. Over the years, the brand has has been burnished by its collaborations with artists and other brands including Christopher Wool, Jeff Koons, Mark Flood, Nate Lowman, John Baldessari, Damien Hirst, Comme des Garçons. 

Jebbia's latest, and perhaps most notable, collaboration is with Kim Jones, creative director of menswear at Louis Vuitton. Louis Vuitton has a history of collaborating with artists and designers including Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami, Marc Newson, Manalo Blahnik and Jeff Koons among others. Kim Jones himself has colaborated on two collections with English artist duo Jake and Dino Chapman. But these collaborations were designed to appeal for the most part to Louis Vuitton's customers - well healed with [in theory] an apprecaition for the collaborators' work.

Jones' F/W 2017 menswear collection appealed to fans of Supreme's skater boy aficiandos and Louis Vuitton's fashionistos alike. An adept mashup of the two brands, the collection featured intermingled logos, Supreme red, hoodies and skate shoes along with skateboard trunks and classic Louis Vuitton bag shapes. All at Louis Vuitton prices.

And like Supreme, this collection was sold in much hyped pop up shops and Louis Vuitton store drops. The chaos that ensued made news worldwide. I was still living in Houston and when I heard that the Supreme merchandise would be in the Galleria store on a Friday this past summer, I called my contact there to get the scoop. Unlike other hot collaborations, there would be no pre-sales and it would be first come first serve that Friday at the store. By Wednesday, fans were camping outside near the store's back door. When the drop was abruptly called off, my contact called me to say that I could provide him with the items I wanted and my credit card information and if the pieces were avaialble, they would be shipped directly to me. I orderd the blanket and this pillow, but only the pillow arrived. 

A few weeks later, my contact called again to say there would be a private drop at the store by appointment for VIP customers. I arrived to guards with clip boards. I had to surrender my phone. I was given a list of the maximum quantity of types of goods I could buy and 20 minutes to do so. It was such a hoot. I only bought luggage tags [which I've since sold], but I was so thrilled to have been part of this worldwide phenomenon. 

There's no doubt Louis Vuitton benefitted from Supreme's cool factor, the hype, and new customers.  Supreme on the other hand, may have jumped the shark, though they have a history of branding objects just to see what their legions would tolerate. Like a brick. So putting their logo on a $4,000 Louis Vuitton bag may be just another brick.TBD.

UPDATE: I SOLD THE PILLOW ON JANUARY 28, 2018.