Douglas Hand on the Supreme/VF Deal
Supreme’s sale to mid-market apparel conglomerate VF Corp shows a shift away from luxury and underlines streetwear’s increasing focus on cultural significance over prestige collaborations. Partner Douglas Hand gives some thoughts on the latest billion dollar fashion deal.
“With its luxury ties, one might have expected Supreme to sell to a luxury group like LVMH or Kering,” says fashion lawyer and NYU fashion law professor Douglas Hand. “Supreme first collaborated with Vans in 1996, and collaborated with other VF brands Timberland (2006) and The North Face (2007) long before its collaboration with Louis Vuitton. The company intends to build on these connections, and the high valuation of $2.1 billion might account for the halo effect of more lucrative Supreme collaborations across the VF Corp portfolio, says Hand. “They may be assuming all boats will rise in their portfolio. And so they’re willing to pay that premium,” he says.
You can read the rest of this Vogue Business article here: What the Supreme VF deal means for Streetwear