Supreme brand is known as an American streetwear clothing brand that was founded in New York City in 1994. The brand was bought in 2020 for $2.1 billion by VF Corporation and is now bought again by an European eyewear group called EssilorLuxottica. EssilorLuxottica is a known maker of Ray Ban, Oakley; Persol, Varilux, etc.
On early Wednesday morning, it was announced that Supreme was bought for $1.5 billion cash:
“We see an incredible opportunity in bringing an iconic brand like Supreme into our company. It perfectly aligns with our innovation and development journey, offering us a direct connection to new audiences, languages, and creativity,” said EssilorLuxottica -CEO Francesco Milleri and Deputy CEO Paul du Saillant.
Bracken Darrell, the CEO, of VF Corporation, said in the press release that the cash deal “gives us increased balance sheet flexibility. Under VF, Supreme expanded its presence in the key markets of China and South Korea and has returned to delivering strong growth,” Darrell continued “However, given the brand’s distinct business model and VF’s integrated model, our strategic portfolio review concluded there are limited synergies between Supreme and VF, making a sale a natural next step.”
The founder of Supreme talked about the brand’s relationship with EssilorLuxottica, “we have a unique partner that understands that we are at our best when we stay true to the brand and continue to operate and grow as we have for the past 30 years. This move lets us focus on the brand, our products, and our customers while setting us up for long-term success.”
When this was announced we at COVET wondered why the huge price drop, we understand it was bought in cash nevertheless, over $ 1 billion dollars slash is such a huge difference. So we went searching, according to Fashionista despite Supreme being at the center of streetwear in the 2010s boom, Supreme was reportedly declining in revenue since the last fiscal year amid executive turnover and internal friction.
