Tremaine Emory has officially left his role as creative director of Supreme and accused the streetwear label of having “systematic racism” within its structure.
According to BoF, Emory, who joined Supreme back in 2020 shortly after its $2.1 billion VF Corp acquisition, penned these allegations in a leaked letter of resignation that also questioned senior management’s “inability to communicate” with him following the cancellation of a planned collaborative release with artist Arthur Jaffa.
The letter also notes that Supreme higher-ups were unable to offer “full visibility for the reasons behind it,” which caused “a great amount of distress as well as the belief that systematic racism was at play within the structure of Supreme.”
Following the confirmation of Emory’s departure and the leaked contents of his resignation letter, Supreme released the following statement:
“While we take these concerns seriously, we strongly disagree with Tremaine’s characterisation of our company and the handling of the Arthur Jafa project, which has not been cancelled,” it read.
“This was the first time in 30 years where the company brought in a creative director. We are disappointed it did not work out with Tremaine and wish him the best of luck going forward.”
The news of Emory’s departure and allegations comes during a busy spell for Supreme.
Following the reveal of its Fall/Winter 2023 campaign last week, the New York label also announced its latest sneaker link-up with Nike SB amidst rumors of an MF Doom collaboration.
All that just days after Supreme officially opened the doors to its new Seoul store.
This story will continue to be updated as it breaks.
