Back to the future

MANILA, Philippines - Exactly five years ago, on Sept. 15, 2007, Supreme hit newsstands for the very first time. Our team joined The Philippine STAR with one mantra“dreaming in print”to produce works that engage, inspire and seduce.

In that nascent issue, we set a course for the future. Supreme, wrote editor and creative director Tim Yap, is about “scoping out what’s new, what’s hot, who’s happening and who will change our world as we see it… individuals do not merely reflect the fabric of society, (but) unmistakably alter it.”

This was in 2007. Twitter had just been born and Facebook had just launched public registrations. As people were coming to grips with a world that was more open and more social, Supreme signaled the broadening of pop culture and heralded the coming of change.

‘Me’ Generation

We wrote of the Internet-savy “Me Generation”the first age group in the history of the world with the power to mass-produce their own cultural products.

“We are the most image-conscious, self-important batch of kids ever to walk the planet,” this author wrote. “Despite worldwide turmoil, we spend hours updating our Facebook profiles; hours putting our opinions and feelings into a blogas if others care.”

“(But) the ‘me-ness’ of today’s generation is at least evidence of a movement towards discovery. While past generations have looked outwardtowards the seas, the moon, spacein order to find meaning, this generation is looking inward for a change. Maybe the answers are inside us.”

Evolution, Always

True enough, the social media revolution has altered the world so much in the last five years that 2007 seems like an eon away. Society has used the Internet to mobilize during disasters, start enterprises, and change entire governments. Almost every single person on this planet today has the capability to transform this era.

An ad heralding the coming of Supreme

Supreme is here to cover all of this change; to chronicle reality through words, and transform our words into reality. But in times of flux, it’s important to keep a constant center, which is why we take a few seconds to look back and reaffirm our principles.

“Evolution, always,” columnist and contributing editor Gino de la Paz wrote in Supreme’s pioneer issue. “When the choice comes down to standing still or moving on, I always, always choose the latter… Change, after all, can be a great thing and bearhugging it is a sign of supreme confidence.

“The secret to forwardand upwardmotion is to surround yourself with things, ideas and people that make your universe bigger, not smaller,” De la Paz added.

“We are a generation that discriminates but doesn’t dismiss,” declares the manifesto that ran on our fateful first issue. “The world is our playground, where outcasts can become icons and true individuals can be celebrated.”

New blood

“We aim to raise overall consciousness rather than hoard it” Team Supreme wrote in our second issue, published Sept. 22, 2007. “We are not about stagnation, we’re about elevation. We’re not about making opponents; instead, we are about releasing proponents of change.”

In our fifth year, Supreme recommits itself to evolution, growth, destroying barriers, redefining society, and jumping feet-first into the future. In a world inundated by information, we repeat our pledge to cover the now with the view of affecting the next.

This year, we welcome new blood to our ranksadvocates of artists, presenters of painters, performance artists, filmmakers, activists, dancers, musicians, photographers, stylists, video artists, techno wizards, bloggers, fashion fetishists, entrepreneurs, aristocrats and meritocrats, and most especially, you.

Join in our discussions. Share in our vision, as we continue to “dream in print.” Progress happens when people like us are struck by the difference between how things are and how things ought to be; when society becomes discontent with the status quo and chooses to leave behind the present in favor of what lies ahead.

This is the Supreme itch. Feel it. It is still our time. Now, let’s go back to the future.

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