Supreme Red became Smurf Blue this week as the New York streetwear brand teamed up with the legacy cartoon series to drop their official collaborative offering. News of the anticipated partnership was amongst the first rumors and leaks about Supreme FW20 and it was confirmed to release with the drop of the preview and lookbook. During FW20 Week 1, Supreme and Smurfs released 10 items, teasing the rest of the collection which has now landed as a part of Week 6.
Week 6’s Supreme Smurfs delivery added 12 new items to the 10 that had already been released in Week 1, bringing the total collaboration to 22 pieces. The collection as a whole featured pieces like denim and GORE-TEX jackets, sweaters, beanies, hoodies, and pants which all featured Supreme logos and some kind of Smurfs imagery. The collection’s stand out piece is the Supreme Smurfs Sweater which released in two different colors and features a jumping Smurf knit into the design. Oddly, the entire collection has been entirely absent of t-shirts which may have left fans of Supreme and Smurfs somewhat disappointed. But with the somewhat spread out release of the collaboration so far, it’s entirely possible that a Smurfs t-shirt will turn up when Supreme drops their second delivery of fall or winter tees later this season.
Surprising, and potentially a sign of the times, is that Supreme is just now jumping on the bandwagon for cartoon collaborations. Over the last few years, several other brands have beaten Supreme to the cartoon collaboration honeyhole. Both Palace and Kith have collaborated with Looney Tunes this year and it’s been several years since KAWS and Uniqlo collaborated with Peanuts on a Snoopy collection. Last year, Nike collaborated with Spongebob Squarepants and Kith’s been a frequent collaborator with Disney, as well. The Supreme Smurfs partnership has arrived last to the Saturday morning marathon and while maybe not intentionally following, it comes long after cartoon collaborations have become the norm. Whether they’re behind the trend or not, it’s clear that nostalgia-fueled cartoon collaborations have become popular throughout the industry but we’ll be keeping an eye on Supreme to see if they find themselves following other trends of the industry moving forward.
