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Brands can point to skateboarding, the city they're from, personal experiences, and movie stars from the past to source inspiration for their collections. But at the core of nearly every movement, there's music. And few brands have taken inspiration from music history more than Supreme.
The New York-based streetwear brand has been catching plenty of flack lately for the ugly legal situation with Leah McSweeney and MOB, but this week's announcement of the upcoming Wackies collab is a nice reminder that the brand is still leading the pack when it comes to fresh and unexpected ideas in streetwear.
Over the years, Supreme has created numerous proper tributes to music's paradigm shakers. Supreme has collaborated with rappers like Raekwon, RZA, and Three 6 Mafia, along with jazz and soul musicians Miles Davis, Otis Redding, and Isaac Hayes. The catalog of music collabs is deep and impressive, the designs are inspired and always informed by a knowledge and passion for the history.
We've dug all the way through the Internet, searching forums, lookbooks, and old magazines to compile this History of Supreme's Music Collaborations.
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Supreme/James Brown
When: Various
James Brown isn't just the Godfather of Soul, he might have been the first emcee. The singer's performances relied heavily on improvisation and some could say he was "freestyling." Being such an important member to the music community, Supreme couldn't do just one or two collections inspired by Brown, but three. The tees vary from tour posters, to shirts inspired by lyrics—all must-haves.
The Supremes T-shirt
When: Spring 2001
How could Supreme not channel The Supremes for a T-shirt? The Diana Ross-led band received a flip from the streetwear brand in 2001, way, way before Internet hype. Good luck getting your hands on one of these tees—tracking down a legitimate image was enough of a challenge.
N.W.A T-shirt
When: Spring 2001
N.W.A. caused nothing short of panic and pandemonium in white America when it unleashed its rhymes that depicted innercity street reality. The group's hit single "Fuck tha Police" was depicted by Supreme as Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and DJ Yella were done up as charactertures—far less "scarier" than their real life selves.
Bunny Wailer T-shirt
When: Unkown
Bunny Wailer has been in the news for all the wrong reasons as of late. Putting those issues aside, Supreme was on a Rastafarian kick much earlier than most streetwear brands as one of its early T-shirts features artwork from the reggae musician and Bob Marley collaborator.
Peter Saville for Supreme
When: 2005
British post-punk band Joy Division’s 1979 debut album Unknown Pleasures featured artwork by graphic designer Peter Saville. What might seem simplistic or as an abstract album cover, is actually an image of how sound waves travel—how people receive the band’s message. Supreme, much like other streetwear brands, often acting as the transmitter and having its clothing be the sound waves that are interpreted.
Also, the collection featured a tee from New Order's Blue Monday artwork also designed by Saville.
Raekwon
When: 2005
Guns, camo print, and Tickle Me Elmo? These were the perfect props used in Supreme's first "photo tee" that featured Raekwon and his bodyguard. No, that's not Ghostface. The photograph was shot by Kenneth Cappello, and it leaves us with one question: What's more classic, this tee or Only Built 4 Cuban Linx?
Supreme/RZA
When: 2005
Without RZA, the Wu-Tang Clan would have never been able to reclaim East Coast hip-hop's dominance in the rap world from California's G-funk reign. There's sort of an obligation for Supreme to plaster the group's leader's mug across a T-shirt, and even on the cover of its book. Also, RZA looks extra cool with his fang-like fronts. If you claim yourself as an O.G. East Coast streetwear head, this tee is as essential to your swagger as Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers in your tape deck.
Dipset x Supreme
When: Spring/summer 2006
Remember when Dipset absolutely ruled New York City hip-hop? Fans of the Harlem collective still can't live down the greatness of the group's early to mid '00s tracks. While more contemporary than most Supreme collaborations, Juelz Santana and Jim Jones hold an equal standing in the hearts and patronage of streetwear aficionados. It doesn't get much more official than Jimmy and Juelz on a tee, even if they aren't dressed like your prototypical Hypebeast.
Public Enemy x Supreme
When: Spring/summer and fall/winter 2006
Before hip-hop became underground and political solely for the sake of liberal arts college students, Public Enemy scared the hell out of America. Supreme connected with Vans, New Era, and Starter for a collection that played off the rap group's B-boy in a scope logo. We've seen A$AP Rocky wear the collection's jacket, and while Harlem native's rhymes don't match the fury or educated wit of Chuck D's, Supreme has been able to bridge generations—connecting emcees through its flavor of fashion.
Bad Brains
When: Spring/summer 2008
A first look at Bad Brains and you might confuse the D.C. band for a laid back reggae group. That couldn't be further from the truth. Although followers of the Rastafarian religion, Bad Brains is one of the founding fathers of the hardcore punk movement—infusing elements of hip-hop, funk, and soul along the way. Is there anything more streetwear than that?
Supreme not only collaborated with the band on this collection, the brand made-up three pairs of Rastafari-themed Vans Sk8-His—a surefire favorite amongst sneakerheads.
Supreme x Joe Cool
When: Spring/summer 2007
Guess who’s back in the [insert expletive] house? Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle is still inspiring major streetwear brands to this day. Supreme collaborated with artist Joe Cool who created the early '90s artwork to create a series of T-shirts that featured the dubious characters who accompanied the classic album.
Miles Davis/Supreme
When: Fall/winter 2008
Kanye West is the Miles Davis of our generation. The trumpet virtuoso's work, album by album, represents the change in the change in the musical landscape—because he initiated it. Supreme not only reissued some of Davis' most integral albums, it placed the artwork from his catalog on a handful of T-shirt designs.
Lou Reed x Supreme
When: Spring/summer 2009
Lou Reed's connection to Andy Warhol as the lead singer of The Velvet Underground (Warhol's collective's house band) alone gives him enough downtown cool to pose for a Supreme T-shirt. Throw in a photograph by Terry Richardson of the singer, plaster if all over New York City, and you have buzz that's intimidating to replicate. These shirts flew off the shelves as quick as the posters appeared.
Supreme/Isaac Hayes
When: Spring/summer 2009
Unfortunately, Isaac Hayes passed away in 2008. To pay tribute to the soul singer, Supreme released a T-shirt that featured artwork from one of Hayes' most known works, the Shaft soundtrack. However, this wouldn't be the only time that the brand would feature Hayes' image on a T-shirt.
Supreme/Curtis Mayfield
When: Spring 2011
We've all heard Curtis Mayfield's music. If not directly, then through the use of Kanye West samples. Sound familiar? We thought so. Supreme borrowed the image of the soul musician off the cover of the soundtrack to the 1972 blaxploitation film, Super Fly. If you sport one of these tees you can not only show you breadth of music history and hip-hop knowledge, but also your skills as a great dresser.
Malcolm McLaren/Supreme
When: Spring/summer 2009
Malcolm McLaren is as relevant as ever. This year's increased interest in the punk movement has revisited the pioneering work British musician and artist. Like always, Supreme was way ahead of things. The brand's 2009 collection not only visited McLaren's design archives, but also applied his aesthetic to three pairs of Vans sneakers—as bright and vibrant as the life he lived.
John Coltrane/Supreme
When: Fall/winter 2009
John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" is not only the saxophone maestro's masterpiece, it's also one of the greatest jazz albums ever. When Coltrane removed the tenor sax from his lips and uttered the words: "a love supreme, a love supreme," the jazz world stood at attention. It was only right that Supreme paid homage to the man who man who brought universal attention to their shared-link. The collection only featured three different T-shirts, but if you got your hands on one, you, our friend, have a piece of history.
Damien Hirst for Supreme
When: Fall/winter 2009
Damien Hirst is best known for straddling the line of what is art/what isn't, and making a boatload of money at doing. Supreme's collaboration with the British artist was enough to garner attention, but in true streetwear and New York fashion, it also implemented a lyric from Nas' five-mic album, Illmatic. On the flipside of the collection's T-shirt (the focus of the collaboration was skate decks), there lies the infamous phrase from the Nas featuring AZ track, Life's a Bitch, that reads "Life's a bitch then you die." Even if you're not a fan of Hirst, any self-respecting hip-hop needed to grab this tee.
Diddy Supreme interview
When: 2009
Diddy isn’t exactly the face of street culture, so it was a surprising choice for Supreme to feature the hip-hop mogul in its 2009 book with an in-depth interview conducted by Vashtie Kola. Nevertheless, this photo shoot by Terry Richardson might have been the tipping point where Diddy developed his now fresh swagger. Although he might tell you something different...
The Clash/Supreme
When: Spring/summer 2010
Supreme's collection with The Clash wasn't the British punk band's first run-in with the streetwear world; Futura designed on-stage backdrops for band's 1981 European tour. Although none of those graphics were used in the 2010 collection, the T-shirts and sweatshirt that the collection presented graphics that utilized the politically-charged and in your face attitude that punk and skate culture are both known for.
Lee "Scratch Perry" for Supreme
When: Spring/summer 2010
Lee "Scratch" Perry might be the most eccentric musician that Supreme has collaborated with. The 2010 collection between the streetwear brand and reggae producer not only featured Scratch's likeliness, but also a few scrawls that are as energetic as his personal style.
Lady Gaga shot by Terry Richardson for Purple Fashion Magazine
When: February 2011
Supreme's affiliation with Lady Gaga was something that benefited both parties. At the time, there may have not been a bigger pop-star than Gaga. And while she has always been viewed as a risk-taker and super stylish, her connection with Supreme also gave her some street cred, too. But the move wasn't seen as a sell-out tactic by the brand's fanbase.
Also, the modified sweatshirt that Gaga wore which was designed by A-Morir, brought a strange, but high fashion demeanor to the brand that prides itself in skate culture.
Britney Spears T-shirt
When: Spring/summer 2011
With much deductive thinking, there was a time when everyone believed Britney Spears went batshit crazy—shaving her head abruptly in the process. Never one to not give its thoughts on social commentary, Supreme produced a bald-headed shirt with the pop-singer’s face, making her akin to another even madder person, Charles Manson.
Prodigy for Supreme
When: Spring/summer 2011
Mobb Deep member Prodigy has had one of the most tumultuous rap careers of any New York City legend. From certified classic albums and humiliating beef with Jay-Z, to living with sickle-cell anemia and serving time in jail, it has been an up-and-down road for the renowned emcee. To celebrate his new-found freedom, Supreme hooked up with the Queensbridge representer regain his rep as one of New York City hip-hop culture's most important figures, as his face was placed upon two awesome T-shirts.
Supreme x Bad Boy Records "Biggie" Collection
When: Fall/winter 2011
What's more New York than The Notorious B.I.G's Ready to Die album? The rapper did put the entire East Coast on his back. It was only fitting that Supreme represented for its late hometown hero with a series of T-shirts that displayed the artwork from his seminal album. The shirts are awesome, but if you were able to score yourself one of the keychains, it doesn't matter what car you drive—you'll render attention every time you reach into your pocket.
Daniel Johnston for Supreme
When: Spring/summer 2012
Out of all the muscians Supreme has worked with, Daniel Johnston might be the least known—or is he? Johnston has had music featured in the films Kids and Where the Wild Things Are. Films that not only resonate with fans of streetwear and skateboarding (Spike Jonze of Girl Skateboards fame directed the adaptation of the Maurice Sendak novel), but pretty much everyone.
The collection only included T-shirts that featured Johnston's colorless sketches, but once again, the streetwear brand is able to introduce its fans to artists with intrinsic value that they might have bypassed through the format of cool clothes.
Three 6 Mafia for Supreme
When: fall/winter 2012
One of the elements that differs streetwear from the rest of the fashion world is a tasteful touch of ratchetness. In fact, when Supreme collaborated with Memphis' Three 6 Mafia this past year, the party the brand hosted at New York Fashion Week didn't just bring Southern, lean-influenced hip-hop to the five boroughs—it made atendees realize why the group's "Tear Da Club Up '97" was actually banned from clubs.
Amidst all this, group members DJ Paul and Juicy J graced the front of a dope T-shirt and also showed love to their label, Hypnotize Minds.
Stax Records/Supreme
When: Fall/winter 2012
Talk to any legitimate fan of soul music, and they'll tell you that while Motown was making catchy hits, Stax Records provided the lung-draining, throat-straining, foot-stomping spirit of R&B. The same passion can be said about Supreme's dedication to the streetwear world. The brand took graphics from two of the label's greatest artists, Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes, for a couple of T-shirts. The result was a collection, although brief, that not only kids hanging out in SoHo could enjoy.
Power, Corruption, Lies
When: Spring/summer 2013
The second time Supreme used Peter Saville's artwork resulted in the "Power, Corruption, Lies" collection, taken from New Order's 1980 album of the same name. The collection featured a floral-print T-shirt, sweatshirt, bucket hats, and another collection with Vans. This time, Supreme was able to throw in a deeper meaning to the boombing floral trend, while putting the youth onto albums that they might have never heard.
Supreme/The Misfits
When: Spring/summer 2013
Lodi, NJ's the Misfits weren't only the founders of horror punk and establishers of an incredible skeleton logo that would get flipped throughout streetwear—they were also pretty badass. The group's leader, Danzig, was seen as one of the scariest dudes in music, but was also loved by the skate community. Check Mike Maldonado skating to London Dungeon in Toy Machine's Welcome to Hell. It was only a matter of time before Supreme put a proper spin on the band's logo that was inspired by the '40s horror film, The Crimson Ghost.
Supreme/Wackies
When: Spring/summer 2013
The thought of reggae music takes you away to a sun-drenched island where time is a non-factor. Not quite your image of the Bronx, right? Wackies is credited with being America's first significant reggae label, and hosted a mixture of Jamaican and American-born artists. Supreme not only played off the label's logo, but also borrowed imagery from artists such as Sugar Minott, Love Joy, and Horace Andy—for a collection of T-shirts, tank tops, and caps—who called the label home.