Nostalgia reigns Supreme
Wake up babe, it's 2013 and you just bought your first Supreme camp cap.
This week was a huge moment for anyone obsessed with the old times — Supreme posted a photo of Tyler, The Creator wearing a green box logo tee, signalling that their newest collection is just around the corner. It’s more than just the latest collection though. If you were into streetwear and Supreme 10 years ago, then you know what significance Tyler holds for the brand. Tyler getting his own phote tee is a huge moment for us old heads who remember buying their first Supreme camp cap while blasting Odd Future.
It’s undeniable that Tyler was responsible for Supreme's massive boom in popularity in the 2010s. It felt as though the hype happened overnight. Things were pretty chill when it came to buying gear from the site, but everything changed when Tyler and Hodgy Beats went on to perform on Jimmy Fallon — That performance was crazy, but the craziest part of it was getting on the Supreme website days later to find that every single camp cap had instantly sold out. Something that usually never happened, and the rest was history.
I’m not here to go on a nostalgia rant though, even though all of us love it, especially when it comes to memories we’ve made growing up while getting into streetwear. It was just a special time on the internet when there was this obsession with the brand. It ended up creating unique communities, that formed friendships, created a whole resell market that became full businesses for some, and whatever else that came out of it. We were kids just enjoying life and figuring out what was cool. To me, Supreme was a pivotal moment that got me into caring about clothes. I’m from Ukraine. Born and raised. I came to Canada when I was like 10, and I’ve never seen or experienced something like Supreme before. So when I experienced it for the first time, I was instantly hooked.
There’s a common discourse around Supreme when it comes to remaining relevant or if they still make good collections, blah blah — which is funny to see because it’s a topic that has been around forever. People have been saying Supreme has been falling off since time, and while it may have gone through several ups and downs, I still think that the brand has plenty of life left to give. Maybe not in the same way it did in the mid-2010s, but at the end of the day it’s just clothing. Why do people even care that much?
This week’s Supreme post really threw me back in time. For whatever reason I went back into the archives to go look at their old stuff and how the various collaborations and different collections shaped my opinion about fashion at a young age.
Looking back at things now and there’s actually too much to recount. Starting it off with a big hit like Supreme x The North Face seems like a right fit. The partnership began in 2007 and since then has brought an array of outerwear that still go for crazy money on the resell market today. Then we have the cult classics that I remember had /r/supremeclothing in a whirlwind during drop days. We’re talking about the leopard nuptse from 2011, the corduroy mountain shell jacket from 2012, the expedition jacket from 2014 and so much more.
Everyone has their own takes on their favorite North Face collaboration, and if you have your own then you have to drop them in the comments because I’m really curious what people were rocking with.
The t-shirts were groundbreaking for me at the time. I mean, I was like 14, seeing the words “fuck” on a t-shirt was absolutely new to me. At the time I had zero money, and that would mean being on my best behavior in hopes of getting my mom to give me her credit card so I can cop. After that though, she would give me shit asking me why I would spend her money on a shirt that says “Cost Fucked Madonna”. I couldn’t even give her a straight answer. It was just cool — the history of Cost is really sick, and there’s a great article from the homie Crook NYC that you can read here to learn more about him.
There are too many t-shirts to go through, but if I’m being honest some of my favorite designs are somewhere in the mid 2010s. Nothing wrong with the new designs though, but to me they just don’t hit as hard as they used to. Maybe I’m just not as angsty as I once was. I did scoop the anniversary book set of all of the t-shirts that I still haven’t opened, but maybe it’s time to crack it open.
Collaborations were and maybe still are the bread and butter of the brand. I think it’s fair to say that Supreme changed the game when it came to collaborations in general, for better or for worse. While Supreme still occasionally hits it out of the park, the collaborations of the past are some that shaped culture and altered the course of streetwear.
Can’t forget about iconic moments like the time New York almost saw a riot over the Supreme x Nike Foamposite release, iconic collaborations like New Order, Undercover, Visvim, the many insane Nike collaborations, Louis Vuitton (!!!), Comme Des Garcons, artists collaborations, and so much more — what’s crazy about many of the collabs that came out 10+ years ago, still hold their place in today’s style discussion.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s a lot of fun to dive into the archives, and one fun way of doing so is by visiting this tumblr account that has archived the collections from 2006-2014. Wish it was updated, but the fact that we still have this resource is more than enough. Kopbox is another great resource that still shows all of the sold items it had on the website. Giving us a glimpse of the resell economy throughout time.
Let’s go back to the archive. Some iconic pieces instantly come to my mind that we need to discuss. We can't forget what the Fetti music video did to the shadow plaid rugby from FW14, or Frank Ocean wearing the Thunderbird Jersey, or when Kayne pulled up with the Tree Camo Anorak from FW12.
Fashion today is fine and dandy… although at times it can feel a bit stale or even forced. A part of me does miss the early days, not only because I was just discovering streetwear, but because I was just a teenager and I didn’t have that much else going on lol. Nostalgia will always hit us in one way or another, but it’s fun to go back to see what was popping when we were younger. Afterall, for many these were the moments that defined and shaped our taste and opinions.
Will we have another period in streetwear the way Supreme did back then? Probably not, and honestly we aren’t supposed to. It was a fun moment that was experienced by many, and while new moments will come through and do their thing, we can’t sit and expect it to resemble a similar vibe from the past.
Anyway, I leave today’s newsletter with a bunch of items that I rediscovered while in the early 2010s. I definitely missed a lot of heat, and didn’t really include some critical years, but this is what we had to work with since the tumblr archive only goes up to 2014. We can’t forget about the collections between 2015-2017 that had a lot of amazing stuff.
I’d also love to hear what items you remember from the past as well, any that spark a story, joy, whatever! Leave you comments and let’s get nostalgic together!
this is the one! https://dukesarchive.com/en-us/products/2008-supreme-x-the-north-face-day-summit
Anoraks went so hard 😂