Tremaine Emory, creative director of streetwear brand Supreme, has officially stepped down as creative director of the company after accusing the company of “systemic racism”.
His departure from the American clothing brand comes just over a year after his appointment in February 2022.
Emory confirmed the reasons for his decision in a resignation letter obtained and released by Business of Fashion, in which the designer confirms the alleged racism that plagues Supreme’s structure. The creative’s letter also raises questions related to the “impossibility of communication” with executives after the cancellation of a planned collaboration with artist Arthur Yaffo. Emory noted that the defendants failed to “fully explain the reasons leading to the cancellation”, which led to “great concern and the belief that systemic racism was at work within the structure of Supreme.”
Supreme disputes accusations of racism
Following the announcement of Emory’s departure, Supreme released a statement to the media stating, “While we take these concerns seriously, we strongly disagree with Tremaine’s characterization of our company and project leader Arthur Jafa that has not been retracted.” “For the first time in 30 years, the company has hired a creative director. We’re sorry it didn’t work out for Tremaine and wish him the best of luck in the future.” Emory was named creative director shortly after VF Corporation’s acquisition of Supreme in 2020 for $2.1 billion.
Prior to joining the company, Emory founded Denim Tears and consulted for various creatives, including Kanye West and Virgil Abloh, as well as brands such as Nike, New Balance and Off-White. Also, in recent days, Tremaine has started talking about his experience at Supreme on Instagram, revealing the truth about the facts. In one of his first posts, he invited his followers to read Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility, a book about the hardships of working and living in a system built primarily to benefit white heterosexual men. In another Instagram post, he says, “I fought tooth and nail to join Supreme due to a press statement explaining that I left Supreme due to systemic racial issues… Can’t take sides on the statement , which does not mention systemic issues”. racism..”