大量 90 年代生產的 Supreme 珍貴單品於 Grailed 上架

在街頭時尚的字典中，「Grail」是指那些讓大家梦寐以求，卻因价格等缘故失之交臂的单品，而 Grailed 則是一個讓你能夠重新圓夢的線上轉售和二手交易平台，在這裡你可以找到各式各样稀有且珍貴的單品，最近 Grailed 便攜手 Supreme 的第一家製造商 BRENTS Sportswear，重新上架了大量產自 90 年代的珍貴 Supreme Sample。作為 90 年代最具影響力的的制造商之一，BRENTS 甚至被稱作「The Godfather Of Streetwear Manufacturing」，今年 9 月品牌便曾在 Instagram 宣佈發售 36 件珍貴 Supreme 復古單品。

雙方本次合作除了上架 Supreme 珍貴單品外，Grailed 還專訪了 BRENTS 創始人 Stephen Brents，談及 1993 年與 Supreme 創始人 James Jebbia 的初次合作，以及本次上架單品背後的故事，感興趣的朋友不妨點擊這裡完整閱讀。

How did your business intertwine with the then-fledgling Supreme?
Stephen’s first conversation with James was at the Stussy Store in SoHo. That was in 1993. James was running the Stussy SoHo Shop and launching Supreme. We actually went in to Stussy looking to do business with them. We needed more volume, [the] business [cycle] ebbs and flows and we needed to fill in some holes. James and Stephen hit it off. He appreciated the look, feel, fabric and construction. He talked about Supreme and that he would like to make some of the items we showed him. (We did end up making a denim western snap shirts for Stussy too).

So on a “day-to-day” perspective? What was it like to work with Jebbia and Supreme? Any standout successes or mishaps?
It was intense. Deadlines. Supreme has always worked the same model. On the day the item was scheduled to hit we had to make sure we made our deliveries on time and it was in their warehouse. The conversations with James were always lively and challenging. He was totally hands on and electric.

The process was [rigorous]. Supreme submitted the style [they wanted to produce] along with a sample, or picked a style from our library or current line. We’d make a sample with their label and packaging and submit it for approval. If necessary, we’d make whatever corrections or adjustments requested, and resubmit as a “preproduction” sample. Finally, we’d send TOP (top of production samples) off the sewing floor to Supreme and if anything was off kilter we’d correct it. I met with James many times in NYC and in Vegas at various shows. We talked on the phone almost daily. James did not come to our factory.
Once we made 10,000 sweat shirts that did not spec out, they were too short after wash. We had to remake those. That was a tough one. A tense moment. When Supreme requested a specific item we had the option to accept or reject it. Therefore, we did not make samples or spend time in product development on something that was out our wheelhouse.

Can you give us a little context on the pieces you’ve decided to release? I assume these are from Brents’ own production archive.
The samples are from Brents archives. When Brents made samples for Supreme they’d keep one for reference and Supreme was not charged for the Brents reference sample. Brents owns them and, in many instances, the items are duplicates of Brents’ models.