A new two-story fake Supreme store recently opened in Minhang. It's the biggest fake Supreme store in the world, so, of course, we went to see how genuine their fakes are. The first thing you notice is that it’s substantially bigger than the first one that popped up on Huaihai Lu a while back, but still not quite the seven-story beast that was predicted. The second thing you think to yourself is “why is this in Minhang?” Not exactly the epicenter of streetwear fashion in Shanghai, is it.
Some background on this story — in 2018 the so-called “legal fake” brand named Supreme Italia duped many people (including international tech company Samsung) into thinking that they were the real New York-based streetwear band and managed to become legally registered in China. They also have stores in Spain and although several intense legal battles have ensued, Supreme Italia are currently free to do business in some countries under the protection of the World Intellectual Property Organization. Quite staggering really. This store is part of Supreme Italia, not the New York-based original.
The place was pretty dead on a Thursday afternoon. There are pictures of queues out the door online but we saw no evidence. This could be due to everyone still grafting at work, or that the hypebeasts and hipsters of Shanghai know a knock off when they see one (this place hasn’t gone down well on Dianping).
On the inside, slightly odd inspirational quotes adorn the walls like “we’re just having fun. we don’t care who see” and “finally I've found that I belong here”. They’ve also installed a little skate ramp which could be used to test a board you’ve bought, but in reality is probably just there for show.
Copping a standard box logo hoodie will set you back 1,500rmb, which is roughly the same price as the real thing from the New York-based brand at retail price. A box logo t-shirt is 500rmb and a Supreme beanie is 600rmb, in case the new drops are too cold for you. Clearly there’s nothing fake about their prices.