The 10 most left-field Supreme collabs of all time

In Hefner’s hey-day of the 1960s, Playboy Club members were gifted a bunny-branded key that allowed entrance to their clubhouse in Chicago, Illinois. This tidbit of Playboy trivia was then referenced 50 years later when Supreme produced a replica of the original key as part of their 2011 collab with the brand. While, back then, it was simply a relic of a time gone by, in the post-brat summer, post-Charli-did-a-bump-at-Boiler-Room era, the key now symbolises a portal to a whole new world of psychotropic possibility.

Although the appearance of Louis Vuitton’s emblematic monogram pattern in Supreme’s AW17 collection may not appear particularly radical today, it had the effect of a bull in a china shop back when it was first unveiled (or, perhaps, a brick in a fashion store – see item number ten). Featuring everything from baseball jerseys and box logo tees to backpacks and board cases, the Supreme x Louis Vuitton collection was a notable step into the world of high-fashion for the skate brand.

Featuring the iconographic scribblings of one of the 20th century’s greatest artists, Supreme’s 2013 collaboration with the Basquiat estate is actually not as left-field as it may first appear. The late Basquiat himself honed his skills as a graffiti artist in Lower Manhattan, where Supreme would open their first store just over a decade later, and the brand’s first ever artist collaboration was with fellow New York graff legend Rammellzee. Interestingly, this collection also provides a strong foundation for Martine Rose’s incorporation of Lee Scratch Perry’s similarly impulsive symbolism in today’s drop.

Bible study never seemed so lit. While Supreme probably didn’t put many young hypebeasts onto the good word with this collab, and brand founder James Jebbia likely has some explaining to do at heaven’s gates, the Supreme Bible Stash Box definitely made a statement. Debuting in their AW13 collection, stealth pockets and hidden pouches have since become a staple of many a menswear collection (shout out the pair of boxers that once helped me to have a good time in Fabric a couple of years ago).

*it is unlikely that this was an official collaboration

Houston’s Rap-A-Lot Records is steeped in deep-cut rap trivia. Initially founded by James Prince in 1986 to keep his younger step-brother Sir Rap-a-lot out of trouble, the label soon hit gold with southern hip hop group Geto Boys, consisting in its most famous iteration of Willie D, Scarface and hype-man-turned-artist Bushwick Bill. Featured in the Supreme collection is a t-shirt with the cover of the Geto Boys’ third LP We Can’t Be Stopped, depicting Bushwick Bill in hospital after he shot himself in the eye. None of this, mind you, was common knowledge by the time that Supreme collaborated with Rap-A-Lot in 2017, which makes this collection so inspired.

The fact that, among all of their high-profile collaborations, Supreme’s longest-running partnership is with The Muppets is equal parts hilarious and genius. The relationship started in 2008 where Kermit the Frog followed the likes of Mike Tyson, The Diplomat’s Juelz Santana and Wu-Tang’s Raekwon as the latest ‘celebrity’ to get their own Inception-style graphic. The collaboration then saw a revival last year when a collection of Miss Piggy and Rowlf the dog pieces were unveiled.

Hirst’s death-obsessed sculptures dominated the British art scene of the 1990s, producing a series of works in which dead animals were cut apart, preserved in formaldehyde and released for public viewing. It was, however, his 2009 collection of skateboards that endure as Supreme’s most recognisable deck to date. The decks feature Hirst’s distinctive spot artwork, which are arranged in satisfyingly simplistic yet unnervingly random patterns.

Clearly, Supreme is recognisable today for its big-brained forays into diverse and unexpected fandoms, but arguably one of the first collaborations to establish this trend was their commissioning of cult bike manufacturer Brooklyn Machine Works to produce a limited run of BMX cruisers back in 1998. The collection of 36 bikes remains one of the brand’s most elusive drops, with a single bike going on auction at Sotheby’s in 2022 at a starting price of $50,000.

Was it a reference to drugs? An ode to Big Brother Skateboards’ ad using a brick back in 1995, perhaps? Or, maybe, it was a comment on the appropriation of worker’s labour under capitalism? Whatever it was, it cost 56 times the going rate for a regular brick back in 2016 and people spoke about it for aaaaages.