Inside Supreme's Underground Reselling Economy (Sold Out Pt. 1)

In 1994, James Jebbia opened the first Supreme location in a small storefront on Lafayette Street in New York. At the time, Supreme was a brand for skaters by skaters—even the design for the shop was more open so skaters could come right in with their skateboards. But today, 21 years later, Supreme is a legendary streetwear brand that’s cultivated a cult following well beyond that original fan base. Continuing to release product in tightly controlled, limited amounts, the brand is as big as it wants to be in New York, Los Angeles, and London; a titan in Japan—arguably its largest market.

Complex has covered Supreme for well over a decade (Complex was founded in 2002). Most of it was from afar; we wrote about releases or lookbooks. But for the last year or so, our Complex News team has been reporting from the Lafayette Street shop to cover in-store launches. Every story was the same: Lines snaked around the block, kids camped out for hours or days, sometimes even in subfreezing temperatures, just to get any Supreme item. Each Thursday drop was chaos. In April 2014, the NYPD canceled the Supreme x Nike Air Foamposite One in-store launch at the NYC flagship after a riot nearly broke out earlier that day.

But there was something much bigger here. We learned that many were in line to purchase gear that they’d later flip online for big profits, selling apparel and other items for as much as 1,200 percent above retail value. “We started to get to know these people and realized there was a business here and real money to be made,” explains Emily Oberg, Complex Editorial Producer and one of the directors of this documentary. While the reselling market is hardly new, and people have been selling Supreme online for years, it’s yet to be the focus of serious investigation—until now.

The first episode of Sold Out: The Underground Economy of Supreme Resellers lays the foundation for the story at hand. Legendary writer Glenn O’Brien, along with top menswear editors, make sense of the hype around Supreme and explain the brand’s success. We also introduce you to the world of Supreme reselling where $40 T-shirts can be upsold to $500.


Chief Content Officer: Noah Callahan-Bever
Executive Producer: Marc Fernandez
Director of Video Production: Justin Lundstrom
Producers: Emily Oberg, Davy Gomez, Cornell Brown, Ross Scarano 
Associate Producers: Xavier Andrews, Olga Encarnacion
Directors: Davy Gomez, Emily Oberg
Writer: Emily Oberg, James Harris
Editor & Cinematographer Davy Gomez
Tokyo Cinematographer: David Allen
Los Angeles Cinematographer: Natalie Edgar
London Cinematographer: Beatriz Sastre
Drone Operator: Gladimir Nym
Colorist Courtney Feemster
Music Supervisor: Emily Oberg
Graphics: Brent Rollins, Jonathan Fouabi
Animation: Chi Chuang
Researchers: Kajal Patel, Asim Ismael
Sound Mixer: Speedy Morman
Production Assistants: Kajal Patel, John Tashiro, Marques Leonard
Footage Courtesy of: Mass Appeal, Flatbush Zombies, NBC News, Freshness Mag, RB Umali, Yu-Ming Wu
Barbara Kruger "Untitled" (I shop therefore I am) 1987
Courtesy: Mary Boone Gallery, New York

Featured Guests 
Executive Editor, HighSnobiety Jeff Carvalho
FMR Deputy Style Editor, COMPLEX Style Jian DeLeon
Fashion Editor, COMPLEX Style Matthew Henson
Stylist Racks Hogan
Founder, Maekan Eugene Kan
FMR Editor-in-Chief, four pins Lawrence Schlossman
Supreme Security Charles Scotti
Writer Glenn O'Brien
Reseller Andre, @SoleStreetSneakerCo
Reseller @CopVsDrop
Reseller @Kickz_N_Preme
Reseller Methikan
Reseller @Sole_Possession_
Reseller @Sole_Reserve
Collector @SolePremeCon

Special Thanks: "Donnie Kwak, Lawrence Schlossman, Glenn O'Brien, Gavin Bond, Raf Moses, Kevin Paz, Keith Cecere, Lucas Wisenthal, Leland Ware, Alexis Quintero, 
Lori Mason, Andrew Gordon, Rickey Mindlin"

Subscribe to Complex for More: http://goo.gl/PJeLOl
Check out more of Complex here:
http://www.complex.com
https://twitter.com/ComplexMag
https://www.facebook.com/complex
http://instagram.com/complexmag
https://plus.google.com/+complex/

COMPLEX is a community of creators and curators, armed with the Internet, committed to surfacing and sharing the voices and conversations that define our new America. Our videos exemplify convergence culture, exploring topics that include music, sneakers, style, sports and pop culture through original shows and Complex News segments. Featuring your favorite celebrities, authoritative commentary, and a unique voice, our videos make culture pop.