In 2014, James Bogart bought his first T-shirt from cult American streetwear brand Supreme. Over the next six years, he acquired each T-shirt marketed bearing the label iconic logo on the box – a collection that is now expected to sell for around $ 2 million.
The Bogart’s Box Logo collection will be offered for private sale alongside an online auction of other rare Supreme items at Christie’s in New York. The collection, described by the auction house as a “holy grail” to Supreme fans and collectors, contains 253 different shirts released between 1994 and 2020 – the whole story of the brand.
Supreme’s brand and more recent fame was built on the social media hype and scarcity. Her clothes can only be purchased online or through a network of just 12 stores around the world – which means the items are highly coveted, can be sold at exorbitant prices, and often draw long lines of shoppers waiting for money. overnight to buy them.
Bogart’s collection, believed to be the first comprehensive archive of Supreme t-shirts to exist, contains many items that are impossible to find even in the aftermarket, Christie’s said in a press release.
The Box Logo collection contains 253 shirts spanning the entire history of the Supreme brand. Credit: Christie’s
“By the time 2015 started, I had developed a strong interest in the brand, picking up the releases that I liked as they fell. I still have a lot of those initial purchases in my collection today, ”Bogart said on a website created for the collection.
“From there my interest became an obsession, and (I) started adding to my collection as often as possible, always looking for the best examples of conditions I could find … A lot of people don’t not think of the weeks, months and even years of uninterrupted research and work it takes to find a single tee. “
T-shirts from the Bogart collection show variations in color and design of what is arguably the brand most valuable asset: its simple logo, a red rectangle marked with the word ‘Supreme’ which the Lyst fashion platform crowned the most powerful logo in the industry in 2018. The collection includes early editions, such as four T-shirts with a smaller Box logo – released in 1995.
The Supreme x WTAPS 1999 box logo t-shirt, one of the brand’s rarest items. Credit: Christie’s
Another valuable item is a shirt made in collaboration with Japanese streetwear brand WTAPS and released in 1999. It is believed that only around 30 pieces were printed, according to Bogart – which would make it one of the rarest Supreme models. On Grailed, an online luxury marketplace, the shirt is listed at $ 12,800.
Supreme began as a modest skate store in Lower Manhattan, opened by British-American entrepreneur James Jebbia in 1994. Since then, it has grown into one of fashion’s most sought-after brands, benefiting from collaborations with Louis Vuitton. , Lacoste, Nike and Timberland.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Vans owner VF Corp. is buying the brand for $ 2.1 billion.
Supreme has developed a sales tactic known as “drop” – releasing a limited amount of new clothing on a weekly basis, rather than a whole new collection each season. The strategy, now largely replicated by traditional fashion brands, has resulted in long queues in stores and fueled online resale markets where prices have skyrocketed.
A skateboard collaboration between Supreme and Louis Vuitton. Credit: Christie’s
Inspired by the brand’s Barbara Kruger The logo is so revered that it can turn almost anything into a collector’s item. Supreme’s Spring / Summer 2019 collection included a branded water pistol, coffee maker, drum kit, snorkeling mask, and even band-aids. When the New York Post ran a Supreme cover ad in August 2018, the newsstands sold out early in the morning.
In addition to the Box Logo collection, Christie’s also has a number of other Supreme items for sale. Its “Behind the Box: 1994-2020” auction, which opens to bidders on December 1, features items like Supreme bikes, motorcycles and a limited edition pinball machine that is expected to fetch up to $ 30,000.
