Who is Tremaine Emory?

Emory is a multi-faceted character. Musician, artist, designer, podcaster, radio speaker. Born in Atlanta, raised in Queens and now moved to Los Angeles, Tremaine Emory has conquered the fashion world over the years thanks to his long collaboration with Marc Jacobs.

Tremaine Emory is an established figure in the world of creatives who are rewriting the rules of fashion and streetwear. He is also co-founder (with with Acyde Odunlami) of No Vacancy Inn, the creative collective that combines different arts such as music, fashion and radio, also famous for its night parties, which made him famous all over the world.

Over the years Emory has collaborated with many brands, artists and designers such as Virgil Abloh, his great friend, Kanye West, Frank Ocean, Tom Sachs, Converse, Nike, New Balance, Asics. In 2019 he founded his own brand, Denim Tears, which became a cult brand in a very short time, notably thanks to the collaboration in 2020 with Levi’s.

What is Denim Tears?

Denim Tears is a brand offering streetwear clothing and aiming to promote the story of African Americans through fashion, between slavery and discrimination, and to educate consumers to make informed purchases. The symbol of Denim Tears is in fact a crown of cotton flowers, a material used for the creation of garments and a symbol of the slavery of blacks in America.

Were there any Creative Directors at Supreme already?

The brand, born in 1994, has always been under the creative guidance of its founder James Jebbia, supported by creatives and designers such as Brendon Babenzien, who oversaw the design of Supreme from the mid-90s until 2002.

The brand has therefore never had any real creative director, but the success it has had over the years is undoubtedly due to the choice of the brand not to become an extremely commercial product, but to create weekly drops of a few items, becoming a highly sought-after brand, loved all over the world.

That changed in 2020 when the VF Corporation bought Supreme for $ 2.1 billion. The acquisition made fans of the brand fear that Supreme could change its unique style and its way of launching garments, but the arrival of Tremaine Emory suggests that the intentions are to strengthen Supreme’s image as a brand of streetwear cult.

A difficult responsibility to take on

Emory will therefore have a difficult task: to take Supreme to a higher level, while preserving the legacy of a brand born for skateboarding but which remained a niche despite its worldwide success. He will not be alone in the company, James Jebbia will continue to oversee Supreme in all aspects, including creativity. We will see in the coming months what Tremain Emory will offer to the brand, what novelties he will bring to Supreme as well to Demin Tears, for which Emory will continue to be creative director.