Who is Arthur Jafa? Tremaine Emory systemic racism controversy explained as designer leaves Supreme

American designer and creative consultant Tremaine Emory, best known as the founder of the clothing brand Denim Tears, has recently resigned as the creative director of Supreme, the New York City-based apparel and skateboarding lifestyle brand. He left the role after a year and a half, accusing the fashion brand of "systemic racism" as well as alleging that the company mishandled an upcoming collaboration with video artist and cinematographer Arthur Jafa.

Tremaine Emory took to Instagram on the morning of Thursday, August 31, and said that he resigned as the creative director of Supreme recently and wanted to issue a joint statement about his departure. However, as per his allegations, the company did not want him to cite "systemic racism" as the reason behind his resignation and reportedly even asked him to deny making any comments to anyone about any racist incident that had happened.

Not only that, Tremaine Emory went on record to say that Supreme deliberately canceled his upcoming venture with award-winning artist Arthur Jafa. Interestingly, the company has denied all allegations in its statement to Business of Fashion.

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Tremaine Emory allegedly missed working with Arthur Jafa, the man behind Daughters of Dust

According to icaphila.org, Arthur Jafa is a 62-year-old video artist, cinematographer, and filmmaker hailing from Tupelo, Mississippi. His career has spanned over three decades and revolved around his experience as a Black artist. At the core of Jafa’s work is the recurring question:

“How can visual media, such as objects, static and moving images, transmit the equivalent ‘power, beauty, and alienation’ embedded within forms of Black music in the U.S. culture?”

So far, Arthur Jafa’s films have earned critical acclaim across various film festivals, including Los Angeles, New York, and Black Star. In fact, he was the recipient of the Best Cinematographer Award in 1992 at the Sundance Film Festival as well as the 2019 Golden Lion Award for Best Participant at the 58th Venice Biennale for his short film May You Live in Interesting Times.

An alumna of Howard University, where he majored in architecture and film studies, Arthur Jafa is widely known for his independent films, the most notable ones being Daughters of the Dust and Love is the Message, the Message is Death.

His artworks have also been exhibited across the globe, such as at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, The Tate, Stedelijk, Luma Foundation, The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and Smithsonian American Art Museum, among various others.

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Exploring, in brief, the Tremaine Emory “systemic racism” controversy

As per designer Tremaine Emory’s lengthy Instagram post, he resigned as the creative director of the streetwear giant Supreme on grounds of "systemic racism." He has been working there since February 2022 and reportedly left the role last month.

He also cited how, following his departure, he tried to "align" with Supreme to issue a joint statement, which the company allegedly refused. He has also accused the brand of messing up his collab with Arthur Jafa, with images being canceled and the project "secretly shut down" without his consultation as it may have dealt with the theme of slavery. Not only that, but Tremaine Emory stated that there was a huge communication gap and a lack of transparency in Supreme’s work culture.

Besides, Emory’s post explained how Supreme had a design studio with less than 10 percent minorities working, despite the brand being “largely based off black culture.” Tremaine Emory also mentioned on Instagram how Supreme officials called him out as “the best storyteller” and challenged them how they were all “gonna get a story.”

In another Instagram post, Emory shared screenshots of texts he exchanged with Supreme executives, including Vice President of Marketing Julien Cahn and Founder James Jebbia. It revealed how Jebbia acknowledged that Emory should have been more involved in the Jafa project.

Meanwhile, in a statement to Business of Fashion, Supreme denied all allegations and also stated that it “strongly disagreed with Tremaine’s characterization of the company.” The brand also stated that the Arthur Jafa collaboration was not canceled despite Emory’s exit.

“We are disappointed it did not work out with Tremaine and wish him the best of luck going forward.”

Emory addressed this on Instagram saying that the firm’s statement was full of lies which was made “to hide the systemic racism that lies within and almost all white-Owned corporations.”

Prior to working for Supreme, Tremaine Emory established Denim Tears, a fashion brand largely based on “the African diaspora.” During this time, he collaborated with top fashion brands like Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Converse and even earned a prestigious spot in The Met Costume Institute’s permanent collection in New York City. Tremaine has also worked with celebrities like Frank Ocean, Andre 3000, and Kanye West.