
What the hell happened to Supreme Italia? It's been a quite period for the Legit Fake saga but the story is far from being over
It was December 2018 when on the stage of the launch-event for the new Galaxy A8 in Shanghai, Samsung China's chief-marketing manager announced an extraordinary collaboration with "a fashion brande loved by the youngest": Supreme.
However, it was not James Jebbia - founder of the legendary New York skate shop - who walked on the stage but two clumsy individuals who represented a consortium of Chinese and Italian entrepreneurs who had brought Supreme Italia to China.
This absurd theatrical scene was the international debut of the strange case of Supreme Italia and legit-fake saga known all over the world: the legal battle over the legitimate use of Supreme boxlogo between the IBF (International Brand Firm) - a company from the South of Italy that owns Supreme Italia - and Supreme, the New York brand that has most influenced the fashion world of the past twenty years.
Supreme did not legally registered - for a wide set of reasons - its logo in many countries (including China and Spain) where Supreme Italia has started selling products with the iconic red boxlogo without actually breaking any law.
The Legit Fake is complex and still on going topic in many courts around the world: it touches the copyright law, international intellectual property law and the moral integrity of a brand that was born on the streets but today represents the fashion of the Hype.
In China, on the other hand, Supreme is unlikely to win the battle in court announced in the press releases: Supreme does not operate on Chinese territory (it does not deliver products and has no sales points) the only foothold in the worldwide recognition of the logo, which however for the history of Supreme it is itself debated. The hype fashion eclipse predicted by Virgil Abloh and confirmed by the trends on the catwalks and consumers will be another decisive factor, which paradoxically will play more with Supreme NY than with Supreme Italy. In fact, the incredible popularity of Supreme fueled by the reselling and hypebeasts on the market has changed Supreme's perception of the highest streetwear audience. Supreme NY seems to have lost the train of the New Luxury and many brands are riding this trend: choosing to position themselves rather than being in a more art-oriented market, completing a path that Jebbia began already in 1994 with the collaboration with Rammellzee and over the years with artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons, and Damien Hirst. This approach will lower the hype on the box logo and consequently also on Supreme Italy.
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