The Supreme collector who challenges Chinese Government

Supreme is maybe one of the most powerful and popular streetwear brands in the whole world. Well, it's not. Hard to imagine, but there is a place where Supreme is an almost-unknown brand: China. The Chinese streetwear community seems to have a gap of knowledge about the famous New York brand. Lack that Hu Peng, the guy who decided to spread Supreme through his country, can no longer tolerate.
Hu Peng, also known as Hood P, is the most important Supreme collector in Asia and, last summer, he decided to open The Roots, his personal boutique of Supreme items only, to promote and spread the brand in China. “They don't know the brand. They think it's called Super Me” said Hu Peng during an interview with Racked.com. 
What Hu Peng does is not just business but a real mission that neither Supreme or the Chinese Government seem to appreciate. Wait, let's go back. Our hero hadn't heard of Supreme before 2006. Despite his early passion for streetwear, Hu Peng read the name Supreme for the first time on the pages of Size, a magazine focused on NBA. It was love at the first sight. 

For Hu Peng Supreme was the symbol of everything he always loved - all his favorite rappers and skaters wore it - and started to collect every items with the Supreme mark on it.  One year later, Hu Peng founds his personal magazine LOOC, active until 2010, when Chinese Government decided to close it because of its contents deemed "immoral". Nevrtheless,  during this time Hu Peng has continued to collect Supreme garments online, expanding his collection valued  for about $1.5 millions.
After five years, Hu Peng decided to create a clubhouse, which could have been an area of concern for the young subculture in Beijing, in particular for the hip-hop and skater community. For Hu Peng that was an act of protest against the Chinese repressive system, as he confirmed during the interview, saying that “street culture is real culture and not just kids being bad”.

And Supreme? The New York brand (who knows the Peng's project and is in contact with him) has become a symbol who ispires Hu Peng to continue his personal fight for  both self-affirmation and support of chinese youth culture. In a country like China where in 2012 the Ministry of Culture banned music deemed dangerous for the society - leading to a modern witch-hunt -  it's hard for the young people to find places where to share and show their passion.
The Roots wants to be that. Since September the store has gained more popularity and visibility. Adrianne Ho visited the local to borrow some clothes for a shooting for GQ China, but also A$AP Mob and many local celebs, like Luhan, Shawn Yue and Xu Ying, are true abituèè. Hu Peng's store The Roots is more than a simple Supreme shop, it's a place of self-affirmation for the Chinese undergound culture.

"I know fashion can change, but the roots of a tree cannot change, and I believe the roots of Supreme are the roots of street culture, and I want this shop to be the root of street culture in Beijing" said Hu Peng.