The Galaxy A8s launch event in China had a little surprise in store. No, it's not the A8s missing a headphone jack, neither is its LCD display. Samsung, in fact, surprised the fashion-conscious locals by announcing a collaboration with the clothing brand Supreme. Things were still fine until Samsung China's Feng En invited executives from the popular American brand.
Following Feng En's call, two gentlemen claiming to be the CEOs of Supreme made their way to the stage. But they were not, at least not of the real Supreme. Instead, they were from a counterfeit Supreme, and Samsung was all aware of it.
Samsung partners up with fake Supreme
We all know Supreme as a New York-based fashion brand that sells a variety of clothing products. But because of an oversight by the company, it's now having to deal with a counterfeit that carries the same name and logo.
Supreme never registered the brand in some markets, like Italy and Spain, giving birth to another Supreme brand. Based in the town of Barletta in Italy, Supreme Italia has registered the domestic trademark for itself and is selling “legal fake” goods in those markets. And now, Samsung is starting to do business directly with this brand in China.
“The brand we are collaborating with is Supreme Italia, not Supreme US. Supreme US doesn't have the authorization to sell and market in China. Whereas the Italian brand got the Asia-Pacific (except Japan) product retail and marketing authorization,” said Leo Lau, Samsung China's digital marketing manager, responding to criticism on his Weibo.
Supreme is extremely popular in this part of the world so it's not surprising to see Samsung inking a partnership with it, even if it's not the real one.
