After tapping Julia Fox for its latest campaign, Supreme is easing back into its collaboration game. The streetwear brand plans to release a new collection centered around the 1997 film Gummo, directed by then-23-year-old Harmony Korine. Apart from his film career, Korine has since become a frequent Supreme collaborator.
In case you’re not familiar with the experimental American film, Supreme has summarized Gummo in its launch announcement. The movie takes place in Xenia, Ohio, a small city that was hit by a tornado in 1974, and was shot in Korine’s hometown of Nashville, Tennessee as his directorial debut. Like many of Korine’s films — the likes of which include Kids and Spring Breakers — Gummo focuses on unconventional youth and takes inspiration from the director’s own upbringing.
Get to know Gummo —
As Supreme explains, the film features scenes of violence, poverty, destruction, abuse, loneliness, and teenage boredom within the decimated town of Xenia, sprinkling in moments of Vaudevillian humor, absurdity, and gritty tenderness. While Gummo is scripted, many of its scenes were improvised or developed spontaneously. The film, according to Supreme, can be described as a “collage-like assemblage of traditional 35mm film, home-movie-style VHS and Hi-8 footage, and Polaroid photographs,” shot in part by the cast itself.
Korine chose to cast many local non-actors in the film, including people he met at bowling alleys and fast-food restaurants. He discovered Gummo’s two leads, Jacob Reynolds and Nick Sutton, while watching cable T.V. Linda Manz, Mark Gonzales, and Chloë Sevigny also star in the film, the latter of whom designed costumes for the movie.
“It's like looking at a book of private photos,” Korine has said of his filming approach. “There's a picture of you in front of a castle or maybe a monument. And next to that is a picture of your grandfather on the toilet. And next to that is a picture you took of Michael Jackson. If you looked at them on their own without knowing the context, then they would seem singular or random. But just because one is next to the other, a kind of narrative comes through. That goes along with Gummo. That's how Gummo was written.”
What’s dropping —
Upon its release, Gummo was praised for its originality, with filmmaker Gus Van Sant calling it “a portrait of small-town Middle American life that is both bracingly realistic and hauntingly dreamlike.” The film was not very popular with the masses, however, who deemed it hard to watch due to Korine’s “overwhelmingly sour storytelling perspective.”
Supreme’s involvement, of course, will bring new eyes and aesthetics to Gummo. The brand’s upcoming collection features imagery from the film as well as original artwork by Korine. Two tees are up for grabs in the capsule, with one displaying a suggestive photo of Chloë Sevigny and the other decorated with white handwriting and a graphic from the film. A red coach’s jacket follows suit, boasting a white bunny boy graphic on its front and sporting white handwriting on the back.
The Gummo poster is highlighted on a simple hoodie while a mesh football top — also featuring a photo of Sevigny — rounds out the apparel. Supreme’s collection includes two skateboards too, one of which displays multiple scenes from Gummo; the other takes on a clean all-black look accented by more hand-drawn bunny boy graphics.
So far, the capsule has received mixed reviews on social media, with many of Supreme’s hypebeast fans feeling alienated (or invigorated) by the Korine collaboration. Regardless, the Gummo x Supreme will see a global release at 11 a.m. this Thursday, through the streetwear brand’s website and physical stores.
