Supreme is in hot water over the images it used on the “Blessings Ripstop Shirt” from the S/S 2021 collection it just released. Over the weekend the National Office of Buddhism stated that it will be reaching out to Supreme about the image of Luang Phor Koon surrounded by yant script on Supreme’s jacket. See picture. The images are not registered copyrights in the USA or Thailand, but can still garner protection under Thailand law.
The picture on Supreme’s jacket is a sacred form of tattoo reserved for Buddhist monks and Brahmin. Since the images are not not registered in Thailand or in the USA it will make a lawsuit against the New York skate company a little trickier. Ownership of the image(s) is the main concern. Luang Phor Koon died in 2015, but allegedly gave his permission to print his image on products to raise funds for Wat Ban Rai temple. If the Wat Ban Rai temple can prove that it owns any of these images they will gain rights in the images for 50 years from the date it was created. With those rights it can then file suit against Supreme and VF Corp.
The manager of the Wat Ban Rai temple said that they will discuss the issue with Supreme to find out what the brand’s purpose is, and then decide what action can be taken against the brand.