Highsnobiety

Remember Supreme Italia? The bootleg brand founded by Michele di Pierro (53) and his son Marcello (24) has been battling the real Supreme in court since di Pierro's fugazi operation capped off several years of churning out knock-off 'Preme by opening a flagship store in Shanghai in 2019. Last year, Supreme secured its Chinese trademark and booted Supreme Italia from the country; just this past week, it finally won a major court case against the di Pierro's operation, putting a major nail in Supreme Italia's coffin.

Bloomberg reports that a London court has found the Supreme Italia founders guilty of fraud, sentencing Michele and Marcello to eight and three years in jail, respectively. The di Pierro's London-based International Brand Firm Ltd. was simultaneously slapped with a 7.5 million pound fine (approximately $10.36 million) to be paid to the real Supreme.

Michele and Marcello "hijacked every facet of the company’s identity and plagiarized it," said Judge Martin Beddoe following the guilty judgment. "The brazenness of the offending is as remarkable as the dishonesty."

Since about 2015, the di Pierros were snapping up various global copyrights for the Supreme brand before the New York company made its own filings. The move, while technically legal, was pretty clearly in bad faith and even mislead Samsung to nearly collaborate with Supreme Italia.

Of course, Michele would have you believe otherwise. "When I filed for registration in Italy, I did it in good faith," he said in 2019. "I didn’t know [Supreme] even existed. It wasn’t popular in Italy. There wasn’t even a store."

An arrest warrant has been reissued for the di Pierros — the father and son weren't actually present for the trial — and it remains to be seen whether Supreme will actually receive any of the money that it won, considering that Michele's International Brand Firm Ltd. has only 300 pounds in its coffers. It's nonetheless a satisfying victory for 'Preme, which recently opened its own Milanese store as if to further snub its nose at the counterfeiters.

We Recommend
  • jordan 1 high
    10 Pairs That Prove the Jordan 1 High Still Reigns Supreme
    • Sneakers
  • Image on Highsnobiety
    Supreme & Nike's Rammellzee Dunks Finally Have a Proper Release
    • Sneakers
  • Image on Highsnobiety
    Level Up Your Outerwear with these Varsity Gems
    • Selects
  • Image on Highsnobiety
    Supreme Said Nike's AF1 Ain't Baroque, so Why Not Fix It?
    • Sneakers
  • adidas basketball shoes
    The Best adidas Basketball Shoes to Wear on & off the Court
    • Sneakers
    • sponsored
  • Image on Highsnobiety
What To Read Next
  • a look at the UNIQLO U FW23 collection
    UNIQLO U’s FW23 Collection Is Forecast-Proof
    • Style
  • Nike x Tom Sachs
    So, Are Tom Sachs & Nike Actually Reuniting?
    • Sneakers
  • gucci ss24
    There's No Raining on Sabato De Sarno's Gucci Parade
    • Style
  • jay-z yeezys outfit
    Is Jay-Z Wearing YEEZYs?
    • Sneakers
  • a look at the Hikaru Matsumura x Melissa collaborative Mogu bag
    Hikaru Matsumura x Melissa’s Bag Collab Is a Satisfying, Y2K Trip
    • Style
  • boss fw23
    Sophia the Robot Is a BOSS Model Now
    • Culture
*If you submitted your e-mail address and placed an order, we may use your e-mail address to inform you regularly about similar products without prior explicit consent. You can object to the use of your e-mail address for this purpose at any time without incurring any costs other than the transmission costs according to the basic tariffs. Each newsletter contains an unsubscribe link. Alternatively, you can object to receiving the newsletter at any time by sending an e-mail to info@highsnobiety.com

Web Accessibility Statement

Titelmedia (Highsnobiety), is committed to facilitating and improving the accessibility and usability of its Website, www.highsnobiety.com. Titelmedia strives to ensure that its Website services and content are accessible to persons with disabilities including users of screen reader technology. To accomplish this, Titelmedia has engaged UsableNet Inc, a leading web accessibility consultant to help test, remediate and maintain our Website in-line with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which also bring the Website into conformance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Disclaimer

Please be aware that our efforts to maintain accessibility and usability are ongoing. While we strive to make the Website as accessible as possible some issues can be encountered by different assistive technology as the range of assistive technology is wide and varied.

Contact Us

If, at any time, you have specific questions or concerns about the accessibility of any particular webpage on this Website, please contact us at accessibility@highsnobiety.com, +49 (0)30 235 908 500. If you do encounter an accessibility issue, please be sure to specify the web page and nature of the issue in your email and/or phone call, and we will make all reasonable efforts to make that page or the information contained therein accessible for you.