SUPREME CONFIRMS INVESTMENT FROM THE CARLYLE GROUP

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Supreme founder James Jebbia has confirmed that the label has sold a stake in the company to private equity firm The Carlyle Group. “We are a growing brand, and to sustain that growth we have chosen to work with Carlyle, who has the operational expertise needed to keep us on the steady path we have been on since 1994,” said Jebbia in an exclusive statement to The Business of Fashion. 

Since 1994, when Jebbia opened the label’s first outpost in a storefront on Lafayette Street, Supreme has become a global cult and the investment from Carlyle will give Supreme added monetary power to drive their rapid expansion and seize this significant growth opportunity within the fashion industry.

The Carlyle Group, which typically does not hold businesses indefinitely, makes for an interesting partner for Supreme. The private equity firm presumably aims to rapidly grow and then sell the company within three to five years, which contradict with the long-term cultural credibility and brand equity of Jebbia's empire.