honeyee: Interview with James Jebbia/Adam Kimmel

Following the recent announcement of Supreme’s collaboration with Adam Kimmel, honeyee interviewed the New York designer along with Supreme founder James Jebbia to discuss the project. What started as a mutual appreciation for each other’s work and contributions to the industry resulted in the two men coming together to design a suit especially for skateboarders. Reasoning that even skateboarders need to dress up from time to time, and remembering how difficult it was to find an affordable, well-fitting suit when he was younger, Jebbia thought it would be interesting for Supreme to offer one and immediately knew that Kimmel was the man for the job. You can read an excerpt from the interview below.

What prompted you to do the collaborative project between Supreme and Adam Kimmel? How did it happen?
James Jebbia: We wanted to do a casual & wearable suit, we like Adam’s aesthetics, he lives & works in downtown NY as I do & we share a lot of the same friends, Aaron from Supreme being one of them & he introduced us.

The skate style and the suit style, these two seem to be at the opposite of the spectrum, what made you to decide to make a suit?
Pretty much everyone at some point needs a suit & the younger guys who we work with all seemed to have a hard time finding one if an occasion arose when they needed one, where could they find one that was good quality, a great fit & an affordable price & very wearable both as a suit & worn separately? There are not a lot of choices in the U.S. so we thought it could be interesting for Supreme to offer one but as with everything we make we wanted it to be as good as possible so we thought its best to work with Adam Kimmel on it as he makes great suits.

What is your idea of the appeal of Adam Kimmel as a clothing brand?
I respect his designs & aesthetic, he’s presenting something exciting, masculine, wearable & always with an edge, if you view most of the fashion shows in NY, Paris & Italy you see a lot of designers referencing the same things, Adam always does his own thing completely different from everyone, he’s in his own lane. I couldn’t wear one myself but I like what he’s done with jumpsuits, its hard to make them cool but he has.

Lastly, what is your general impression you got from working with Adam Kimmel?
Very talented, creative & original New Yorker

What prompted you to do the collaborative project between Supreme and Adam Kimmel? How did it happen?
Adam Kimmel: James Jebbia is a friend, and I’ve always been a big fan of Supreme. He came up with the idea of making a casual suit for skaters, which he could hang in his shop.

Is there any particular occasion that you want people to wear this suit?
I had weddings in mind and other formal occasions, which skaters must deal with. Skaters at the very least need a suit for weddings, don’t they? The idea was to make a suit that would look beautiful but still feel right for the street. It’s not preppy and it’s not grunge.

While Adam Kimmel has the style that reminds us of the street, it also combines a distinctive feel of elegance represented by a beautiful pattern and silhouette. We think such aesthetic was fulfilled to the project with Supreme this time, too. Were you conscious of that part?
Thanks. I agree this was the idea here.

What is your idea of the appeal of Supreme?
Supreme has integrity. They put serious thought in everything that they do. Skateboarding has become integral to our culture in the last thirty years – particularly for my generation. Supreme was really the first company to fully channel a skateboard spirit that integrated the New York skate community. It was the first New York skate lifestyle brand.

Lastly, what is your general impression you got from working with Supreme?
I have more respect for what they do more than ever.