Supreme Reportedly Saw a Big Decline in Revenue Last Year

Supreme has built a reputation as the king of exclusive streetwear, but the brand saw revenue fall by $38.4 million in 2022.

The statistics come from Business of Fashion, which reported this week that the New York-based clothing and lifestyle brand generated revenue of $523.1 million for the fiscal year ending March 2023, compared to $561.5 million from the year prior. Supreme's net income likewise decreased from to $82.4 million to $64.8 million over the same period.

The timing of the slowing profits come not long after Supreme was acquired by the global apparel company VF Corporation in November 2020 for $2.1 billion, which is also the parent company of lifestyle brands such as Vans, The North Face, and Timberland.

However, the partnership may have jeopardized the exclusivity that lended to the prestige of the brand. After the acquisition, Supreme went onto open more stores and offer more products then ever, as pointed out by a recent Wall Street Journal article asking if Supreme "is still cool."

“I think they opened too many stores and basically put out too much product," said Gary Wong, a longtime Supreme collector, according to the Robb Report. “Back in the day, when there was a North Face [collaboration] drop, it was impossible to get—and nowadays, you can essentially walk into the store the next day or the week after, and still be able to buy it.”

But also, such is the life cycle of fashion. What's popular today may not be in vogue in five or 10 years from now. As Business of Fashion points out, youth culture has been gravitating to smaller streetwear brands such as Aimé Leon Dore, London-based Corteiz, and Ghana’s Free the Youth.

It's too early to count out Supreme just yet, but numbers don't lie.