Tremaine Emory got heated after a fashion media company compared his latest Denim Tears rollout to other fashion companies that were popular during the late ’90s and early 2000s. Instead of siding with the designer, it seems like his response was the last straw for people who were on the fence about him.
Emory was born in Georgia, but grew up in New York City. He’s worked for and collaborated with fashion brands such as Stüssy, Levi, UGG, Supreme and Converse. He also worked with other designers like Acyde Odunlami, Kanye West, Frank Ocean and the late Virgil Abloh.
In 2019, Emory founded his own brand, Denim Tears, which he says makes “African American sportswear.” The fashion brand became a hit when Emory started featuring the Cotton Wreath pattern on his clothes. Celebrities like A$AP Rocky, Playboi Carti, Cardi B and more have been seen wearing the Denim Tears Cotton Wreath clothing.
Emory appears to be moving away from the popular motif as he showed off Denim Tears’ next collection Winter Recess NYC ‘23. This collection ditched the wreath for a new stylized Denom Tears brand on the clothing. Fashion and lifestyle media brand Highsnobiety wrote an article on the new collection, saying that the “DT” logo was reminiscent of “streetwear brands like Rocawear and Phat Farm.”
The fashion designer took this as a slight against his new collection, and he ranted about the article on his Instagram. Emory said, “Don’t ‘dime square y2k’ my output because y’all are too lazy to do real fashion journalism…if your going to call out a reference get it right…this ain’t got nothing to do with no rocawear or babyphat.”
He explained that got the embroidered emblem look from the “Tom Ford Gucci” jeans that he used to buy when he lived in Queens in the ’90s. He then took aim at folk in the comments section of Highsnobiety’s post about him trying to find a different logo than his “Cotton Wreath.”
Some social media users sided with Emory, saying, “I like that Tremaine Emory be standing on business against anyone: Kanye West, Supreme and now HighSnobiety.” Others called out Emory for his rant. One said, “I was going to let him and his little cotton wreaths live but this [raccoon emoji] is officially doing too much. F–king weirdo and obsession with proximity to whiteness, while also trying to exploit blackness. Get a f–king grip.”
I was going to let him and his little cotton wreaths live but this 🦝 is officially doing too much. Fucking weirdo and obsession with proximity to whiteness, while also trying to exploit blackness. Get a fucking grip. https://t.co/YWkWU6zWsv
— Brittanie (@Burrrittanie) December 13, 2023
More called out Emory for taking the Rocawear and Baby Phat comparison as a diss, and accused him of “selling black pain.” This is what some people believe led to him to leave his position at Supreme.
Emory was hired as the streetwear brand’s creative director in February, but he and the company had a falling out by August. After leaving the company, he accused the brand of systemic racism. His problem with the brand started when a collaboration with filmmaker Arthur Jafa reportedly was canceled.
In a post, after he left the company, Emory gave some more details about why the collaboration was allegedly canceled. He said “One of the few black employees… in the design studio didn’t think that we should be putting out this collab because of the depiction of black men being hung and the freed slave gordon pictured with his whip lashes on his back.”
People assumed Emory was suggesting that the collaboration would have had Black men hanging and the infamous “Whipped Peter” image on Supreme clothing.
Emory also had a back and forth with Kanye West, who accused LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault of “killing” his best friend Abloh, who died in 2021. He made those remarks at the Yeezy Season 9 fashion show in 2022, the same fashion show where he and Candace Owens sported White Lives Matter shirts.
Emory took issues with Ye’s public statement, saying “Keep Virgil name out of your mouth.” The two continued to berate each other online and exchange derogatory messages.
