VF Corp Just Sold Supreme For $1.5 Billion

Back in 2020, for $2.1 billion, and just four years later, rumours are now swirling that they’re planning to sell the New York streetwear institution.

Sources have told WWD that Supreme is being shopped around to a number of potential buyers, and VF Corp is allegedly working with investment banking firm Goldman Sachs to review its entire portfolio. However there has been no confirmation, as a spokesperson from VF Corp told WWD, ‘As a matter of policy, we don’t comment on market rumours or speculation', and another spokesperson from Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

This news come after VF Corp announced in February that they missed their Q3 goals, with revenue decreasing by 13 per cent. During that quarter, revenue rounded out to $3 billion, with net losses of $42.5 million. There was also the announcement that VF had begun a ‘strategic portfolio review’, and were already looking to sell their brands JanSport and Kipling. VF have been looking to ‘right-size’ their business using cost cutting strategies, including layoffs that aimed to eliminate $300 million in fixed cost savings.

It was already known that VF Corp was planning on selling brands in their large portfolio, which includes and although this is the first time Supreme has been mentioned in the conversation. However, it doesn’t come as a big surprise for those in the know, as Supreme’s cultural cache has waned since being taken over. It was back in 2017 when Carlyle Group invested $1 billion into the business, doubling their money three years later in the VF Corp deal. Supreme have always sat at the peak of the streetwear scene, boasting an attitude of being too cool and exclusive to fail. It was through these sales that the NY brand’s hold on youth and streetwear culture was questioned, especially as they’d be under corporate ownership and focused on growth. One investment banker told WWD that ‘the brand got too big to continue to be cool’.

Supreme is still run by its founder James Jebbia and continues to be a fashion industry tour de force, but in recent years, they’ve experienced some speed bumps on their way to global domination. Under VF leadership, Supreme aren't the golden child and have to navigate around corporate structures since they’re part of a larger catalogue of brands. Despite the corporation's knack for supply chain management, in 2022 Supreme experienced some issues on that front, leading to their business being ‘uneven’ that year. In 2023, Supreme also hired Tremaine Emory as the brand’s creative director, last August over systemic racial issues that the brand has denied. Despite these negative headlines, Supreme have continued to bolster their global growth, opening new successful brick-and-mortar stores in Seoul and Shanghai.

VF Corporation is a giant in the fashionsphere and owns a plethora of brands like Vans, The North Face, and Dickies in among Supreme. Over the years, VF have been known to sell brands that didn’t fit their wider vision, namely Wrangler and Lee in 2019. It’s currently unclear if the Supreme sale will actually go ahead, but CEO Bracken Darrell is currently looking at trimming the VF portfolio, which could include the NY streetwear staple.

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