If you asked a Tyler, the Creator fan to conjure up their earliest memory of the rapper-turned-designer from the early 2010s, he’d likely be wearing Supreme.
It’s a sight that feels so familiar that when Tyler appeared, in wheat-pasted poster form, in a mysterious new campaign seen in London this week, the images themselves seemed almost placeless. Are these images new, or are they from 20? And what do they mean? Perhaps Supreme will print the photos on some tees, or maybe their existence presages something more.
On Tuesday, the streetwear behemoth posted the high-resolution photos, shot by Luis “Panch†Perez, on their Instagram page. In the two portraits, Tyler wears a taupe shearling-trimmed trapper hat, a diamond chain and matching earrings, and a green-logoed Supreme tee, with a colorful silk scarf tucked into its collar.
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“MR. GREEN HAT REALLY,†the rapper himself commented on the post—referencing, perhaps, an earlier self.
“This man ushered in an entire era of Supreme fans. He deserves this,†reads another top comment, though it is unclear what exactly this is. More fans speculated that Supreme may even name Tyler as its next creative director, a post that’s been vacant since Denim Tears founder Tremaine Emory left the brand on complicated terms last year. The brand has been retooling its next chapter ever since.
As of press time, Supreme has not yet responded to GQ’s request for comment on the Tyler photos.
But certainly, Tyler has been wearing Supreme since Odd Future was just a group of teens in Los Angeles. “We would always skate around the area it’s at [in LA],†Tyler told GQ in 2012, recalling his introduction to Supreme. “That was the only store in the area at the time that sold skateboards, so we’d go in there and buy boards, and I just gradually became friends with the guys who were working there.†Tyler eventually connected with the brand’s founder James Jebbia and then-brand director Angelo Baque: “They respect me for doing what I do, and I respect them, cause that’s my favorite shit,†the rapper said in 2012.
“Visual aesthetic is important to me,†Tyler added. “I take video directing and designing album art and shit like that very serious, and they do, too. So that’s one thing I like from [Supreme], the way they design certain things—not too much, not too little.â€
In August 2011, six months after his “Yonkers†video hit YouTube, the rapper had worn an olive green, leopard-brimmed Supreme “bogo†cap when he accepted his Moonman for Best New Artist. A year later, Tyler appeared in a Supreme lookbook shot by Ollie magazine—an opportunity he told GQ “was on one of my goal lists, to be in a lookbook for Supreme, so that was as close as I got.â€
That is, until now.
In the dozen years since, Tyler forged his own imprint on the fashion world, founding his own brands Golf Wang and Golf le Fleur and becoming a legitimately popular designer in the process. Earlier this year, he teamed up with his idol Pharrell on a Louis Vuitton capsule that became one of the brand’s top-selling collections of late. Given Tyler’s decade-plus history as an unofficial Supreme ambassador and his proven industry bonafides, it would not only be cool if Supreme named him to head up the brand—it would also make a lot of sense. A full-circle moment is nice and all, but so is a possible next stepping stone in a fledgling fashion career.