Sold Out: The Underground Economy of Supreme Resellers': Full-Length

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• published: 18 Dec 2015
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On Monday, the first part of Sold Out hit the Internet. The subsequent parts rolled out over the rest of the week, but if you've been patiently waiting to take in the entire project in one sitting, your day has come. Above you'll find the full-length cut of Sold Out, with all four parts edited into a single cohesive whole. If you need a reminder about the story unfolding, here's Complex Style's associate editor Karizza Sanchez: In 1994, James Jebbia opened the first Supreme location in a small storefront on Lafayette Street in New York. At the time, Supreme was a brand for skaters by skaters—even the design for the shop was more open so skaters could come right in with their skateboards. But today, 21 years later, Supreme is a legendary streetwear brand that’s cultivated a cult following well beyond that original fan base. Continuing to release product in tightly controlled, limited amounts, the brand is as big as it wants to be in New York, Los Angeles, and London; a titan in Japan—arguably its largest market. Complex has covered Supreme for well over a decade (Complex was founded in 2002). Most of it was from afar; we wrote about releases or lookbooks. But for the last year or so, our Complex News team has been reporting from the Lafayette Street shop to cover in-store launches. Every story was the same: Lines snaked around the block, kids camped out for hours or days, sometimes even in subfreezing temperatures, just to get any Supreme item. Each Thursday drop was chaos. In April 2014, the NYPD canceled the Supreme x Nike Air Foamposite One in-store launch at the NYC flagship after a riot nearly broke out earlier that day. But there was something much bigger here. We learned that many were in line to purchase gear that they’d later flip online for big profits, selling apparel and other items for as much as 1,200 percent above retail value. “We started to get to know these people and realized there was a business here and real money to be made,” explains Emily Oberg, Complex Editorial Producer and one of the directors of this documentary. While the reselling market is hardly new, and people have been selling Supreme online for years, it’s yet to be the focus of serious investigation—until now. Chief Content Officer: Noah Callahan-Bever Executive Producer: Marc Fernandez Director of Video Production: Justin Lundstrom Producers: Emily Oberg, Davy Gomez, Cornell Brown, Ross Scarano Associate Producers: Xavier Andrews, Olga Encarnacion Directors: Davy Gomez, Emily Oberg Writer: Emily Oberg, James Harris Editor & Cinematographer Davy Gomez Tokyo Cinematographer: David Allen Los Angeles Cinematographer: Natalie Edgar London Cinematographer: Beatriz Sastre Drone Operator: Gladimir Nym Colorist Courtney Feemster Music Supervisor: Emily Oberg Graphics: Brent Rollins, Jonathan Fouabi Animation: Chi Chuang Researchers: Kajal Patel, Asim Ismael Sound Mixer: Speedy Morman Production Assistants: Kajal Patel, John Tashiro, Marques Leonard Footage Courtesy of: Mass Appeal, Flatbush Zombies, NBC News, Freshness Mag, RB Umali, Yu-Ming Wu Barbara Kruger ""Untitled"" (I shop therefore I am) 1987 Courtesy: Mary Boone Gallery, New York Featured Guests Executive Editor, HighSnobiety Jeff Carvalho FMR Deputy Style Editor, COMPLEX Style Jian DeLeon Fashion Editor, COMPLEX Style Matthew Henson Stylist Racks Hogan Founder, Maekan Eugene Kan FMR Editor-in-Chief, four pins Lawrence Schlossman Supreme Security Charles Scotti Writer Glenn O'Brien Reseller Andre, @SoleStreetSneakerCo Reseller @CopVsDrop Reseller @Kickz_N_Preme Reseller Methikan Reseller @Sole_Possession_ Reseller @Sole_Reserve Collector @SolePremeCon Special Thanks: ""Donnie Kwak, Lawrence Schlossman, Glenn O'Brien, Gavin Bond, Raf Moses, Kevin Paz, Keith Cecere, Lucas Wisenthal, Leland Ware, Alexis Quintero, Lori Mason, Andrew Gordon, Rickey Mindlin Subscribe to Complex for More: http://goo.gl/PJeLOl Check out more of Complex here: http://www.complex.com https://twitter.com/ComplexMag https://www.facebook.com/complex https://www.instagram.com/complex/ https://plus.google.com/+complex/ COMPLEX is a community of creators and curators, armed with the Internet, committed to surfacing and sharing the voices and conversations that define our new America. Our videos exemplify convergence culture, exploring topics that include music, sneakers, style, sports and pop culture through original shows and Complex News segments. Featuring your favorite celebrities, authoritative commentary, and a unique voice, our videos make culture pop.