The Carlyle Group bear hugged skater culture when it purchased a chunk of retailer Supreme in 2017. Who knew urban teen skaters had $1 million to spend on collectables?
A Bloomberg story characterized the crowd:
as “very young and urban” and mostly brand new to auction experience. Reached after the sale, Naudan characterized the excitement from this “new generation of collectors” as evidence of a new cultural moment.The greed and leverage boys, now the Fu-K clan, are both international and multi-generational.
“The prices obtained for both Supreme branded objects, but also the works of artists from the same generation who accompanied this unprecedented global movement, confirm the international interest in urban culture.”
The Supreme logo could have come off the side of a 1970's gas pump. Customers once got green stamps for buying supreme gas. I don't recall their prizes having four letter words in bold display.
Bloomberg ran the picture on the Supreme auction run by a French auction house. It was truly a PEU event.
Update 11-25-18: Netflix comedy show takes on Supreme and The Carlyle Group.
Update 10-24-19: PEU Supreme landed in San Francisco. “Why can’t the tech-heads come check us out? Why can’t the artists come check us out?”
