es featuring the artist’s work. However, it is probably Supreme that continues to be the winning brand in choosing the right artists to feature. Ranging from soul music legends, a photographer known to capture the underground scene, a hip-hop group that rebelled against society, and to a British filmmaking genius, Supreme never fails to astound the world when it comes their boundless search and selection of artists of all ages and background. In 2018 alone, Supreme worked with more than 10 different artists, and had the world raving with all its collections successfully selling out in seconds. It is needless to say that Supreme’s artist collaborations have fashion gurus all over the world longing for its release. There is one problem to this phenomenon though: every time an artist collaboration is released, most people do not know much about the featured artist, with the rarity of the items or visuals being more important to them. This ruins Supreme’s effort in selecting the unique cream of the crop. It is simply a waste to wear something without knowing the brand’s intention, and it is not too late to gain this understanding. Here we will look at artists that Supreme featured in the last year, and focus on their career background and styles. This way we think that you will grow a better attachment to that beloved piece you own.

If you are extremely masochistic and in the mood for making yourself sick to the stomach, just watch Chris Cunningham’s work. If you’re an extreme sadist and in the mood for ruining someone’s day, show them Chris Cunningham’s work. Chris Cunningham is a British film artist born in 1970 that is known for creating a world that would always surprise, confuse, and disturb the audience. At an early age of 16, Cunningham entered the filmmaking industry, and worked under Clive Barker for the SFX design of “Hellraiser”, at the age of 17 he was involved in the production of David Fincher’s “Alien 3”, and was headhunted by Stanley Kubrick to be chosen to supervise animatronic tests for “A.I.” (the film was actually directed by Steven Spielberg following Kubrick’s death). After gaining experience of working in projects with acclaimed filmmakers, Cunningham pursued to go solo in his early 20’s. However, no one could leave Cunningham and his rare talent alone. The first to approach him was Warp Records. When he was 25, Cunningham shot the music video for Autechre’s “Second Bad Vilbel”, which became the beginning of the many shocking promotional video works he did for artists. He created more than 30 music videos including Aphex Twins’ “Come to Daddy” and “Windowlicker”, Portishead’s “Only You,” Madonna’s “Frozen”, and Bjork’s “All if Full of Love”. Most recognizable is probably “All if Full of Love” which shows two android Bjork.

Cunningham’s work did not stop at music videos. He has also worked on many commercial films as well. Brands like GUCCI, Audi, Sony and Levi’s had hired him to direct and film commercial work for them. Regardless of the purpose of the work, all the videos share a beautiful finish that Cunningham’s unique style could evoke. The difference sits in who the client is: in music videos, the clients are the musicians, whereas for commercials it is the brands. In 2005, Cunningham demonstrated his talent to create a work that fully embodies his skills as an artist while liberating himself from the client’s constraint, all in a 6-minute short film titled “Rubber Johnny”.

The film is about a child named Rubber Johnny who one day became disformed, and was locked in a basement by his parents, and documents how he finds self-pleasure while being imprisoned in darkness. It is already a crazy enough idea to be made in to film, but the music is by Aphex Twins. There is no better word to describe Cunningham than to call him a genius for creating such a film. In almost every writing that mentions Cunningham, he is described as a “genius” because that is truly who he is. And once again, Supreme amazed us all by reprising and printing“Rubber Johnny” in a collaborative capsule collection.

Cunningham found beauty in expressing the grotesque, the manic, and the supernatural by using the most cutting edge technology in film. When it is easy to call oneself an artist these days, Cunningham stands out as an authentic artist. Also, Supreme should be acknowledged as a top brand for this accomplishment of featuring Cunningham at this timing. One advice to all the ladies out there: if you see your boyfriend or friend wearing something from the capsule collection, do not be grossed out, but instead understand that it represents Cunningham’s epic artistry and Supreme’s aesthetics.

Text_ LUDO OSHIKAWA