The news of Supreme and Married to the Mob’s legal battle has officially blown sky high. For those of you looking to catch up, the story broke Monday with a New York magazine story detailing Supreme’s decision to sue Leah McSweeney, founder and owner of Married to the Mob over use of the Supreme Bitch logo.
Here’s an excerpt:
“[Leah McSweeney’s] first T-shirt was a sort of homage: supreme bitch written in the Supreme (via Kruger) style. Jebbia carried the shirts in Union, another store he owned. As Supreme’s fortunes multiplied, so did Supreme Bitch. Rihanna posted pictures of herself in a Supreme Bitch cap. Karmaloop and Urban Outfitters have sold Supreme Bitch items. In January, McSweeney took what would be a normal step for an upstart clothing label: She filed a trademark application for Supreme Bitch. Two months later, Supreme sued McSweeney for $10 million and demanded she remove the offending items from retailers.”
Also worthy reads for further detail: Complex breaks down the lawsuit; a statement from Leah McSweeney; Gabriella from Miss weighs in on legalities; and Barbara Kruger, the original artist who inspired the Supreme logo, responds with an epic description: “Clusterfuck of totally uncool jokers.” (And yes, there’s already a t-shirt!)
You guys who follow us know we have always supported McSweeney. She basically epitomizes the spirit of what we consider to be a Snobette woman. Plus we have always been committed to fierce independent female entrepreneurs and that is McSweeney to a t. That said we have no idea how this case is going to work out. It’s pretty impressive that famed civil rights attorney Norman Siegal has chosen to take on the case.
And maybe we’re biased but we do think from a public sentiment perspective this was a major misstep on Supreme’s part and a pulling back of a curtain that is going to expose a side of the company it’s done a very good job of hiding over the years.
All legalities aside, from a strictly streets perspective you don’t bless Supreme Bitch when the scene is in its youthful we’re-all-in-this-together-non-money-hungry phase, but then decide nine years later when you only care about making more millions it’s not okay and I’m going to crush you like a bug. This is especially hypocritical when so much of Supreme has been built on thieving and copying in order to make it seem cool and edgy.
All told, this is a public relation’s nightmare for Supreme (and comments on the various sneaker boy blogs bear this out). We have mixed feelings about Supreme, but basically we think it’s about time because this take down was a long time coming. And also, Supreme should’ve known better than to take on McSweeney because she never backs down from a fight nor does she ever let anyone intimidate her.
And mark our words, this case marks a turning point for streetwear as we know it. It’s the end of an era and an entering into a new phase with Supreme leading the charge. And the new direction is not a pretty or nice one.
