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Despite its popularity as an exclusive streetwear brand, Supreme rates “We Avoid” for its lack of transparency. This article is based on the Supreme rating published in October 2020.
Elusive streetwear by Supreme
April 1994, a new store opens its doors on Lafayette Street, downtown Manhattan: Supreme is born. Over 24 years, Supreme has grown to embody downtown culture. Working with generations of artists from various backgrounds, Supreme has established itself as an institution, known for its quality, style, and authenticity.
Despite its global influence, Supreme remains very exclusive, with only 10 stores worldwide, 6 of which are in Japan. Thanks to its numerous collaborations, with brands such as Nike, the North Face, Comme des Garcons as well as artists like Richard Prince, John Baldessari, and Jeff Koons, the brand gathers thousands of devoted fans. They patiently queue in front of Supreme stores in order to get their hands on the coveted products during the brand’s weekly “drops”. The label also has a large online following, boasting an impressive community of users that discuss, buy, and resell Supreme product on SupTalk, a popular Facebook page for Europe’s Supreme fans, which has over 60,000 members.
The brand does have a clear influence and play a crucial role in the constant renewal of streetwear culture, but how does it impact the Planet, People and Animals? How ethical is Supreme?
A supreme lack of action
Unfortunately, Supreme does not provide sufficient information about reducing its impact, which is why it rates “Very Poor” on environmental impact, labour conditions, and animal welfare.
As consumers, we have the right to know how the products we buy (and queue for hours to get) affect the issues we care about. Because Supreme is very opaque, we gave the brand the overall rating “We Avoid”.
To have a better rating, Supreme could start disclosing more information about how, where, and by whom its items are produced, as well as the materials used.
Transparency is crucial to ethical and sustainable fashion and is the first step towards reducing a business’ impact on people, the planet, and animals.
Note that Good On You ratings consider hundreds of issues, and it is not possible to list every relevant issue in a summary of the company’s performance. For more information, see our How We Rate page and our FAQs.
If you’re a streetwear fan, fear not, we have found some “Good” and “Great” alternatives to Supreme so you can look cool while doing good. Bonus point: you won’t even have to queue for hours to get them.
Good swaps
“Good and “Great” alternatives to Supreme
