How Supreme went from NYC skate shop to $1.5B brand

There’s skater cool, and then there’s Supreme cool.

Just ask any fashion or cultural enthusiast, and they’ll tell you Supreme is the heavyweight champion of streetwear. The original curator of cool.

The minimalistic red and white logo has icon-level status. And it has garnered a cult following since its conception as a small NYC skate store in 1994.

Now valued at an eye-watering $1.5B, Supreme has risen to insane levels of cultural significance. And that journey is a masterclass in calculated brand building.

It’s impossible to deny how influential Supreme is on both fashion and skate culture. From unheard of collaborations to record-breaking sell-out times, the brand continues to be one of the most sought after streetwear brands in the world.

So, how does a skate brand become so powerful?

Supreme has always been unapologetically authentic. They burst onto the scene with a brick and mortar in downtown Manhattan, and the store quickly became the home of New York City skate culture.

Opened by James Jebbia, an entrepreneur and cofounder of Stussy, the store was a hangout spot for the local community of skateboarders that frequented the area. It was run by a team of kids who embodied what the brand would become known for--a fearless, authentic, attitude that just didn't care what anyone thought.

These traits carried into the energy of the store and ultimately became the brand values of Supreme today.

With limited resources, the OG team threw together a scrappy logo to meet a t-shirt print run deadline. And their available inventory was, well, sporadic. Sometimes the store would run into cash crunches and struggle to fill the shelves. The team started only ordering small quantities of stock out of fear of being stuck with merch they couldn’t move.

This gave birth to the scarcity model that many brands have since adopted.

Slowly, Supreme began to make the limited releases a core part of their business model. The brand pioneered the 'drop' approach that has become central to streetwear and sneakerhead culture.

This generated demand like no other brand had done up until that time. Capitalising on the buzz, the brand decided to throw launch parties for new collections twice a year. They quickly turned their 'Thursday Drop' into a can’t-miss event.

Relying on this scarcity model meant Supreme could keep prices relatively low, while providing the exclusive feeling of high-tier luxury goods. And now, once their merchandise is gone, that's it. They'll never sell those products again, which heightens desire even further.

This has created Taylor Swift-level obsessive brand loyalists. These fans will literally camp outside the stores in a line to get a chance to cop their new products.

And if they miss out? No worries, they can buy from a reseller (at mark-up of 286%!).

The crazy level of demand for their products means Supreme spends almost no money on marketing.

They don’t advertise in any way. Instead, the brand relies on its army of fans to evangelize on their behalf, spurred on by the buzz of their limited releases.

It goes to show, no amount of ad spend can replicate the power of turning your customers into ambassadors the way Supreme has.

Supreme isn’t on top because they caught the wave and rode it. They are the wave. And they've pioneered most of what we associate with streetwear fashion and culture today.

When it comes to authentic branding and building a cult-like following, Supreme has the secret sauce. I mean, who else can sell a literal branded brick for hundreds of dollars and have their customers absolutely eat it up?

That’s brand power.

-Sophie, Writer