I’m sure a lot of the bigger metal heads in the Supreme community recognized the inspiration behind a good amount of pieces in the Supreme Black Sabbath collection. Mostly because a lot of the pieces are just original Black Sabbath merchandise slightly altered to add Supreme’s branding onto the pieces, or homages to specific Black Sabbath music.
But, as we all know, a good amount of kids who are into Supreme these days don’t always know much about the brands/artists Supreme collaborates with and just buy it because it’s Supreme. So throw on your favorite Black Sabbath album and let’s get into the inspiration behind the Supreme Black Sabbath collaboration (Or…I guess throw on any Black Sabbath if you’re not familiar with Black Sabbath).
Inspiration Behind The Supreme Black Sabbath Sabbath Bloody Sabbath L/S Tee
This L/S tee is one of the pieces that’s really just a slight alteration to an original Black Sabbath merch tee. Supreme changed the colors from purple to red, moved some of the words to different places (Black Sabbath at the top of the shirt moved to the bottom of the shirt), and added their Supreme branding on the front of the L/S shirts. The shirt references Black Sabbath’s 5th studio album titled “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” which released in 1973. It really is almost exactly the same as the original merch. So, if you’re a big Black Sabbath fan and missed out on the Supreme collaboration, you can always buy almost the exact same piece from Black Sabbath’s merchandise.
Here’s a photo comparing Supreme’s Black Sabbath Sabbath Bloody Sabbath L/S Tee vs Black Sabbath’s original merch L/S tee picked up at one of their concerts.
Inspiration Behind The Supreme Black Sabbath Paranoid Tee
The inspiration for this tee comes straight from Black Sabbath’s music video for their song titled Paranoid. Supreme just took the image right off of the music video, and then of course added their branding with the box logo in the corner of the image. Again, if you’re a Black Sabbath fan and missed out on Supreme’s paranoid tee, you can find shirts with the exact same image minus the Supreme logo for a lot cheaper than resale on the Supreme one.
Here’s a photo comparing Supreme’s Black Sabbath Paranoid Tee vs the shot Supreme used from Black Sabbath’s video for their song Paranoid.
Inspiration Behind the Supreme Black Sabbath War Pigs Tee
The inspiration for Supreme’s War Pigs tee comes straight from Black Sabbath’s song titled War Pigs, off of their Paranoid album (which a good amount of these pieces revolve around). Supreme basically just put the name of the song on the front of the shirt, with Black Sabbath written on the back. They also added their Supreme logo under the Black Sabbath logo to add their branding onto the tee. This piece doesn’t seem to be just an alteration of old Black Sabbath merch from what I could find, but then again it’s definitely not a super creative design just putting the name of the song on the front. For those who aren’t familiar with the term War Pigs, it basically describes somebody who believes war is the best way to solve issues ranging from political issues to economical issues, and the term really blew up after Black Sabbath’s song about it.
Here’s a photo of Supreme’s Black Sabbath war pigs tee.
Inspiration Behind The Supreme Black Sabbath Cross Tee
This tee is another one that used the exact same design as a vintage Black Sabbath design, just adding their branding on the back. Black Sabbath has released tons of merchandise with very similar aesthetics utilizing cross designs and fire designs, as with most heavy metal influenced bands. This piece specifically doesn’t hold any significant value to any specific Black Sabbath music, and is much more just a general Black Sabbath looking merch tee. Supreme utilized a common font used on Black Sabbath merch, and added their Supreme branding in the same font going downward on the backside of the shirt.
Here’s a photo comparing Supreme’s Black Sabbath Cross Tee vs a vintage Black Sabbath brooch from the 1970s with the same exact design.
Inspiration Behind The Supreme Black Sabbath Tome Tee
Supreme’s tome tee was almost an exact copy of Black Sabbath’s merch once again. Supreme changed the color from grey to purple, and added their branding on the back of the tee. Other than that, it’s the same exact design. The original Black Sabbath merchandise version is fairly rare and was only sold at limited concerts.
Here’s a photo comparing Supreme’s Black Sabbath Tome Tee vs a vintage Black Sabbath tee from their merch with basically the same design.
Inspiration Behind The Supreme Black Sabbath Paranoid Crewneck
This piece was not an exact copy of Black Sabbath merchandise like a lot of the other pieces. But this piece was very basic and references Black Sabbath’s album titled “Paranoid,” from 1970. Supreme utilized a common Black Sabbath font and the same color text as the album cover for paranoid, and then added their subtle branding directly above.
Here’s a photo comparing Supreme’s Black Sabbath Paranoid Crewneck vs Black Sabbath’s album cover for paranoid.
Inspiration Behind The Supreme Black Sabbath Hockey Jersey
This piece was almost a direct copy from a rare vintage Black Sabbath hockey jersey released during Black Sabbath’s Reunion Tour in 1998. As far as references go, this piece was a homage to Black Sabbath’s first album not produced by Rodger Bain, titled Volume 4. The original album cover art had the same symbol but in orange, although it was the exact color as the vintage Black Sabbath jersey, just with small changes to add Supreme’s branding.
Here’s a photo comparing Supreme’s Black Sabbath Hockey Jersey vs Black Sabbath’s Vintage hockey jersey, and their album artwork for Volume 4.
Inspiration Behind The Supreme Black Sabbath Hooded Parka
This piece had no exact copies from Black Sabbath merch, or any specific musical references to Black Sabbath’s music. But, Black Sabbath is very well known for the use of upside down crosses on their graphics. Supreme used a very similar graphic to the graphics on Black Sabbath’s album cover for their self titled album “Black Sabbath.”
Here’s a photo comparing Supreme’s Black Sabbath Hooded Parka vs Black Sabbath’s album artwork for their self titled album “Black Sabbath.”
Inspiration Behind The Supreme Black Sabbath Denim Trucker Jacket, and The Supreme Black Sabbath Black Sabbath Hooded Sweatshirt
These two pieces both take inspiration from the same place, or album. All of the artwork is exact copies of some of Black Sabbath’s artwork from their self titled album “Black Sabbath.” The actual image that Supreme used from Black Sabbath’s artwork depicts the Mapledurham Watermill on the River Thames in Oxforshine, England. The trucker jacket specifically was one of the must copped items for a good amount of Supreme Black Sabbath fans.
Here’s a photo comparing the Supreme Black Sabbath Trucker Jacket, and the Supreme Black Sabbath Black Sabbath Hooded Sweatshirt vs Black Sabbath’s artwork for their self titled album “Black Sabbath.”
Inspiration Behind The Supreme Black Sabbath Cross 5-Panel
Not a direct copy, more of a basic Black Sabbath cross design thrown on the front of the hat, with Supreme’s branding on the back. Cross designs very similar to this are extremely common with vintage Black Sabbath merchandise. Supreme tends to go pretty basic with their hat designs/collabs nowadays.
Here’s a photo of Supreme’s Black Sabbath Cross 5-Panel vs a vintage Black Sabbath design with similar graphics.
Inspiration Behind The Supreme Black Sabbath Rug
I’ve been able to find a few vintage Black Sabbath rugs, but definitely nothing very similar to Supreme’s version. This is more of a general Black Sabbath merch inspired piece. Supreme took a basic Black Sabbath graphic, and incorporated the colors black and purple, which were a big theme of this collection. I was able to find some vintage rosaries with a very similar design on them.
Here’s a photo of the Supreme Black Sabbath Rug vs a vintage rosary with a very similar design.
