This will already be the end point, in just two seasons the agreement between Tremaine Emory AND Supremewhose creative director the stylist and activist became in February 2022. While it’s a rumor started by the site complex.combut lately the feeling between the designer and VF Corporationwhich acquired the brand in 2020 in a stellar $2.1 billion deal, seemed to fade away, to say the least.
Lots of expectations, few concrete results. In the fiscal year ending March last year, the brand (founded in 1994) James Jebbia and whose first creative director was Emory) settled at $523.1 million, down from $561.5 million the previous year, well below the parent company’s expectations of a ceiling of $600 million. Even net income, which was close to $65 million, was down from the previous $84.2 million.
In addition, in 2022, Supreme lost the title of top-selling resale brand for the first time. StockXreplaced by Fear of God From Jerry Lorenzo.
The fact is that three years ago, when Vf hired Supreme, the scenario was very different from today: streetwear was still in vogue, and the expression “quiet luxury” was not even in the fashion vocabulary. Kanye West it was worn in the palm of your hand and when moving Black Lives Matter reached its peak.
Recently Tremaine, who is also the founder of the brand denim tears with which he celebrates African-American culture, he allowed himself statements that, at least, expressed a certain nervousness.
In an interview, he stated that “the big conglomerates are the banks. Lvmh this is a bank. Kering Group this is a bank. Paramount this is a bank. This is last minute capitalism.” All he needed was to mention the Vf Corporation and the bomb would go off.
“These institutions,” he continued, “finance a designer, an artist, a band, a conductor, a writer, or whatever, to make money, and that’s important to them. If you think you’re making a profit because you’ve been appointed creative director, you’ve lost. You must look for this value elsewhere, that is, in yourself and in a society that believes in you and in which you believe.
If Emory does retire from the scene, Vf might be able to name a successor, rely on a stylistic team, or, who knows, re-discuss the relationship with Jebbia. In any case, it is time for the brand to recalibrate in accordance with the new rules of the market.
In the fourth quarter, the group’s revenue fell 3% to $2.7 billion, with earnings per share falling from $3.10 to $0.31.
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