Skateboards and Motorbikes: Supreme’s Adoption of Akira

This essay examines how Supreme reimagines skate culture and subculture through its adoption of Katsuhiro Ôtomo’s Akira. In doing so, this paper argues that Supreme manufactures subculture via reimagining established subcultural texts to further their concept of marginality– hypermasculine angry youth who rally against the mainstream by indulging in radical street skating/racing and dangerous drug use. By examining the relationship between Supreme and Akira, this paper offers an academic interpretation of a prominent understudied brand and a reading of Akira to suggest what the manga can mean in the current era of subculture.