A full-circle streetwear moment took place last week after Supreme on Tuesday confirmed an upcoming collaboration with rapper and designer Tyler, the Creator.
Speculation of a collab began Monday after wheatpasted posters of the artist wearing a Supreme Box Logo T-shirt were spotted on the streets of London. The New York-based skate/streetwear brand, which was purchased in July by EssilorLuxottica for $1.5 billion, confirmed the project in an Instagram post the following day. With the brand currently on hiatus ahead of its next collection, it’s likely that the Tyler, the Creator collaboration will be a key item in the fall 2024 range.
Social media users were abuzz all week following the confirmation. Tyler, the Creator has long been linked to Supreme — he’s credited with helping boost the brand’s popularity in the 2010s — but has never formally worked with the company. Tuesday’s confirmation tapped into the nostalgia of many longtime Supreme fans, and the comments on its Instagram post were overwhelmingly positive.
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In an extended interview shared on YouTube, Tyler, the Creator expounded on his history with the brand. “The first thing I got actually was the peach and mint T-shirt…the mint and pinch color Malcolm McLaren T-shirts, [spring] 2009.”
Later in the clip, Tyler, the Creator recalled an early reselling moment which he says funded a trip overseas.
“I got some Nikes, some random Nikes they put out. This is 2010, September, October, before I went to London for the first time, and sold them,” he said.
Although he doesn’t reference a specific model, it’s likely that the resold sneaker in question was the Supreme x Nike SB 94. Supreme didn’t release a Nike collaboration in September or October of 2010, but it did launch one in November: a four-sneaker Nike SB 94 collection.
This was an all-new model created exclusively for Supreme which featured Foamposite and Zoom Air technologies. It was released again in November 2011 in two additional colorways, but has not been available since.
The sneakers retailed for $128 in 2010, and Tyler, the Creator says he resold them for $300. “Inflation ain’t hit yet, so that $300, that was like $1,000,” he joked.
An accomplished designer in his own right, Tyler, the Creator’s ventures include his Golf le Fleur brand, which has collaborated numerous times with Converse. Earlier this year, he designed a capsule collection for Pharrell Williams’ vision of Louis Vuitton.
The Tyler, the Creator x Supreme collaboration is expected to feature a photograph of the artist wearing the brand’s Box Logo shirt with a green emblem and should be released early in its fall ’24 collection. Readers can watch the full interview below.
