Supreme to sell minority stake to Carlyle group: reports

By

Olivier Guyot

Translated by
Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Oct 9, 2017

Still helmed by its founder James Jebbia, Supreme inaugurated a new store in Brooklyn, New York last week.

Founded in 1994 during the skate boom, Supreme is now getting a much needed retail space. Several exclusive collaborations in recent seasons (think Louis Vuitton and Lacoste) have generated quite a buzz. In just a few years, the street hype for Supreme has literally taken over the world, to the point that the New York label has now caught the eye of an investor.

Coinciding with news of the launch of its Williamsburg store in Brooklyn, American media outlet WWD last week mentioned a rumor about a stake purchase in Supreme by investor Carlyle, which most recently invested in Italian brands Twinset and Golden Goose. Over the weekend, Jebbia confirmed to the British website Business of Fashion that his brand had indeed sold a minority stake to the investment firm.

According to Jebbia, the arrival of Carlyle allows Supreme to consolidate growth and brings in more organisational expertise. The exact number of shares and sum paid has not been disclosed.

Supreme is opening its New York flagship following the inauguration its first store in Paris, which debuted a year ago. The brand currently boasts a store in Los Angeles, one in London and six in Japan, in addition to New York and Paris.

Some of the products from the brand's recent Louis Vuitton collaboration were reportedly resold for $25,000, an irony considering that founder James Jebbia supposedly needed half that amount to open his first store in Manhattan in 1994.