Supreme will launch its first standalone store in China, as well as a WeChat Mini Program, on March 23rd, a key milestone in the streetwear juggernaut’s global expansion plan following an early foray into the country via a shop-in-shop at Dover Street Market’s Beijing outpost in 2022.
Chinese hypebeasts have long clamoured for a local Supreme store, but the brand’s efforts to enter the key fashion market were stymied, in part, by the rise of sophisticated opportunists who opened fake Supreme flagships from Shanghai to Shenzhen and attempted to register the brand’s trademarks in the country.
The move comes as demand for streetwear cools and some observers ask how far counterculture Supreme can grow without losing the ‘street cred’ that made it so desirable in the first place. In the year ending March 2023, the brand generated revenues of $523.1 million, down from $561.5 million the year before. But in recent quarters, parent company VF Corp has signalled renewed momentum at the label.
“Supreme had its strongest start to a season in a couple years, with double-digit revenue growth in the quarter,” VF Corp CFO Matthew Puckett said in October, adding in February that the brand “saw its positive momentum from last quarter continue with broad-based growth across regions and benefited from entry into Korea.”
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