Footwear label Larroudé as lead by former vice president fashion director at Barney’s Marina Larroudé staged an April Fool’s Day joke by posting its signature platform mule Dolly sandal detailed with the Supreme logo on the heel and a caption reading: “Mark your calendars! A special collab is launching soon… #LarroudeDolly.”
The post instantly garnered a large amount of enthusiasm from fans including stylist Gabrielle Karefa-Johnson, Angela Simmons and Nicky Hilton to name a few.
Shortly after, the brand updated the feed with a note reading, “Important announcement, The Larroude x Supreme collaboration was an April Fool’s joke…But comments, DMs from customers and celebrities, emails from press and stylists texts, have shown the necessity to make this a reality. We are manifesting this and have put this iconic Dolly into the universe. Supreme your move.”
The post was a bold marketing move by Larroudé, whose past collaborations include, Barbie, Melissa and Oscar de La Renta. That said, Supreme collaborations historically have been with brands who either have a clear connection to streetwear or have garnered a certain level of clout among their following, whether Pat McGrath, Louis Vuitton or most recently Burberry.
A recent recipient of Footwear News‘ Launch of the Year award in 2021, the year-old Larroudé has some status in the fashion footwear, however, the brand’s streetwear cred is nonexistent. While the aesthetics of streetwear have gone mainstream, the core community is still a niche culture with its own rules to entry, with the bar to membership for women held that much higher.
While extremely unlikely given’s Supreme positioning as a men’s brand, if it were to take on a women’s shoe collaboration, one would guess it would partner with either a brand it has an established relationship with like Vans or Timberland or a label like Amina Muaddi, which has partnered with Rihanna and A$AP Rocky, both of whom are viewed as made members of the streetwear community.
