Elite skate/street wear brand Supreme have filed a lawsuit against Leah McSweeney’s Married To The Mob brand for using the words ‘Supreme Bitch’ on various goods.
McSweeney had been putting out Supreme Bitch shirts since 2004. Nine years later, Supreme have attempted to sue her for millions of dollars, arguing copyright infringement against the brand.
McSweeney’s public response:
As some of you may have heard, Supreme is suing me for $10 million over my “Supreme Bitch” design. I’ve been using this design since the first MOB collection in summer 2004. I even sold it as a tee at Union, a store owned and managed by Supreme’s founder James Jebbia, who gave the design his blessing. Now, he’s claiming that the design infringes his trademark rights.
Unlike some companies that blatantly rip-off other brand logos, Married To The Mob has always had its own identity and aesthetic by being an extension of
my life experiences. I started this company when I was 22 and have come a long way without a piggyback ride from anyone.
Supreme Bitch is one design of many; one slogan of many. And the use of the design has always been to make fun of the misogynistic vibe of Supreme and the boys who wear it.
Bottom line is this: I don’t think Supreme should be able to squash free speech or my right to utilize parody in my design aesthetic. It’s one of the most powerful ways for me to comment on the boy’s club mentality that’s pervasive in the streetwear/skater world. The fact that Supreme is coming after MOB and me personally is just another example of the hostility that MOB — the first women’s street wear brand — has faced from Day 1. And it’s why the Supreme Bitch message is so important.
Civil liberties attorney Norman Siegel agreed to take my case and act as co-counsel along with Edward Rosenthal of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC, a law firm that specializes in trademark issues. This isn’t a fight I went out looking for, but I have no choice other than to fight back. Because right now, it’s about more than just a t-shirt!
American Artist Barbara Kruger’s work explicitly inspired Supreme’s red-and-white logo.
Complex magazine reached out to Kruger asking her what she made of the lawsuit. Kruger responded in the form of a blank email, with this attachment.
Now Kidult, best known for tagging/vandalising stores of hyped fashion brands presents a twist of the iconic Supreme box logo T-shirt – the “Suepreme” tee.