Hey guys, after all the requests and DM’s, I thought I’d put together a guide for those of you who want to QC your own Supreme box logos hoodies or crewnecks. Keep in mind this guide is meant to help you QC your bogo to determine whether it’s a replica or retail and to determine it’s flaws. I’ve added photos to help you do a rep vs retail comparison side by side.

Because Supreme box logo tees are easy to QC (they’re just a screen-printed graphic slapped onto a tee, for the most part), this guide will only focus on hoodies and crewnecks. I will keep updating it as time goes and new box logos come out.

I will add the Bandana box logos as soon as the first reps come in

Number one thing to keep in mind when looking at a box logo, is that all bogos are different, even retails. Supreme quality control is always changing over time – sometimes it’s good, and sometimes it’s terrible. FW18 for example was far superior to FW17, and FW16 was better than both were. There are no two box logos that will look the same – they all have small differences here and there, so even if your box logo doesn’t look exactly like your friend’s, or the one on StockX or Grailed, or the one you see online on Facebook groups, don’t worry about it. Also, this guide will NOT focus on the tags.

Notes before you start

Here are a few things to note before you start QCing:

FW13 and below have wider spacing between the letters

FW14 tonals don’t have clear-cut and well-defined letters

FW15 crewnecks have slimmer letters than FW18

FW16 hoodies have thicker letters (except the sage and peach, which are a bit thinner)

FW17 hoodies have thin/thick letters – they’re the most inconsistent box logo hoodies

FW18 crewnecks have medium sized letters

Finally, keep in mind that the QC photos are close-up magnified shots. This is how you typically spot the flaws. Most of the very small details you’ll see on those pics, you wouldn’t actually be able to spot with the naked eye, and neither will your neighbor, or your friend who’s “really into Supreme and can LC everything” Get real; nobody LCs stuff in reality or gives enough shits to look at your box logo up close.

Now onto the QC part.

Regular/Classic Box Logo Hoodies / Crewnecks (FW14/FW15/FW16/FW17/FW18)

Box Logo Patch

The box logo patch should not look soft and foldable. The material and consistency of the stitching is harder, and the texture is not typically pliable unless we are dealing with a very worn out and used box logo. There’s no exception to this. Also, there needs to be an equal distance between both the left and the right sides. You can eye-ball this by seeing whether the left side corresponds to the right, but do not lose sight of the middle as sometimes it fluctuates. Some of Mirror’s black FW16 reps have had this issue, where they were thicker in the middle than on the sides and created an uneven box logo patch.

When you look at the patch, ask yourself:

Is it even on all 4 sides?

Is one side smaller or thinner than the other?

Is the thickness even on each side? Too thick, or too thin?

Does any of the four corners flap or is choppy, or inconsistent with the others?

The box logo patch should be cleanly sown into the fabric of the hoodie without any textile shredding. Shredding is when you can clearly see the thread between the hoodie and the patch sticking out, or grinding against the fabric. Some box logos have it more than others: the FW17 ones are commonly known for not having the best sown patches (green, purple and brown box logos being the most noticeable) and a fair bit of shredding. This is typically most noticeable through a zigzag of the thread going in between the blank and the patch.

poor / wonky edges (rep)

poor / wonky edges (rep)

great edges (retail) Examples for different bogo patch qualities, rep and retail

Box Logo Grain

The box logo grain should always follow the crisscross pattern, regardless of the season it dropped in. Some seasons (such as 2013 and prior, as well as FW16) it’s more pronounced. Other seasons, it’s a little bit less (FW16 and FW18). Nonetheless, you need to clearly identify the diamond shaped holes in between the fine fabric of the grain.

The pattern involves a clear X stitching all across the box logo patch, onto which the letters are sown later on. It should have just enough thread to make up the texture, but not too much, otherwise it becomes too patchy. The thread used to stitch this grain needs to be fine and medium in thickness as to allow for the crisscross to show the gaps in between.

Finally, look for a grain that has depth. There is a certain crispness about retail grains that you’ll notice reps almost never have – they are less surfaced and a bit more sunk in, with higher detail. Oftentimes, reps will have a very surfaced grain despite having a crisscross pattern, and in that case it’s still wrong.

When you look at a box logo grain, here’s the questions you have to ask yourself:

Is the crisscross pattern even all over the patch? Or only in some spots?

Is there any diamond shaped gaps or holes in the pattern?

Is it patchy? Does it have too much thread, or not enough?

Is the grain consistent throughout and does it go in between the letters?

poor / wonky grain (rep)

poor / wonky grain (rep)

poor / wonky grain (rep)

poor / wonky grain (rep)

great grain (retail) Examples for different bogo grain qualities, rep and retail

Letters

The most important part of a replica box logo, so to speak the make or break, and the number one tell (number 2 being the wash tags). Despite the letters being a bit different from one season to another, they are all relatively consistent in the volume they consist of, and the flatness. A lot of replica box logos will have letters with more, fuller volume to them, and a certain shine that retail doesn’t have. Many reps will also have letters that are almost silver or grey instead of pure white, which is how every retail is.

Spacing between the letters needs to be very consistent. There should be an equal amount of space between the bottom edge of the box logos and the letters, and same is applicable to the top. Make sure that the threading is not in a zigzag but rather a clean side by side.

Here’s what you should assess when you look at the letters:

Are the letters too thick? Too thin? Keep in mind that each season has different sizes to their letters. Common mistakes in reps are the UNHS flaw (thin letters); you want to avoid that, it’s an easy tell that your box logo is fake. Oppositely, make sure that they aren’t too thick either because that will mess up the spacing between each individual letter and blend the letters in.

Are any letters too high or too low? Generally speaking, floating letters are more a thing of the past and older rep models, but you might still encounter some today. The most common is the floating E at the end; it’s a bit higher than the other letters. If not, the R can also float on some reps. Check for that too. Make sure that all the letters are on the same line and of the same size.

Make sure that the spacing between the letters is even. The R touching the E isn’t really a flaw as many think: a bunch of retails have the R touching the E too (including one I personally own from FW17), so don’t worry too much about that. Obviously, if it’s stitched together that’s bad, otherwise it’s fine, it just needs to have a bit of space.

Are the letters evenly stitched? Make sure that there’s no gaps in the letters themselves, that no stitching comes apart, and that there’s no loose ends to any letter. This can bite you in the ass if you keep wearing and washing the box logo, and eventually the thread will come off and ruin your sweater or hoodie.

great letters (retail)

Supreme x CDG Split Box Logo Hoodies (FW18)

Box Logo Patch

The box logo patches on the Supreme x CDG split hoodies aren’t sown but rather printed. Yet, these are the most flawed box logo replicas so far, and very few out there have produced batches that are actually good.

The box logo, cut in half, needs to be even on each side in terms of size; the right size shouldn’t be bigger than the left, or vice versa. They need to sit at a good distance (approximately half a box logo distance) between each other. The cut in the middle has to be mild and not sink in the box logo halves.

The most important thing about this box logo, and its biggest flaw, is the R split. Make sure that the right half has just enough space between the pole of the R and the end of the split. It needs to look like a clearly cut ‘r’, not like a ‘l’. On the left half, the ‘r’ needs to show just enough so you can tell that it’s the missing piece from the above – it shouldn’t be too long or too short, too high or too low.

Bad Split (rep)

Good Split (retail) Examples for different CDG bogo splits, rep and retail

Text on the lower back

The “COMME des GARCONS SHIRT” text and cut angle on the lower back should always be the same regardless of the size of the hoodie. There’s a few things that have to check off:

The cut on the back needs to go down from right to left on a 30-degree angle.

At about 70% of the way through, the text needs to curve up into the cut

Only IRT (and sometimes a bit of the H) from the word SHIRT should but cut, but you should still be able to read the entire word without a problem.

Supreme x CDG Polka Dot Box Logo Hoodie (FW12)

This one is very simple: QC it the same way you would a regular box logo, only the letters are flipped. The letters are supposed to be about as thick as FW16, so if yours are too thin, or too thick, don’t buy it.

One thing to keep in mind is that the polka dots are different on each hoodie – it’s a pattern that is randomized. The dots do not sit in the same spot on the retails either. Some pieces have dots under the box logo, some have the dots around it. As long as they follow the same general pattern, you should be good.

Supreme x CDG Polka Dot Bogo Retail

Supreme x CDG Folded/Crumpled Box Logo Hoodie (SS17)

Another very simple box logo hoodie to QC – the main flaws on it is the ME in COMME. The retail version has a small bridge between the M and E that connects both together. Reps don’t. To my knowledge, there’s no batch without the flaw, so you’ll have to get one with that flaw and deal with it to the best of your abilities. Also, make sure that the color saturation is right – the red needs to be bright, and not too washed out. Sometimes reps either get the red too bright or not bright enough, and besides the tags this is typically the easiest way to tell a replica from a retail. Also, this is one of the only box logo hoodies on which the screen print is almost the exact same as it appears on the tee.

Note that whether you get the white or black variant will also play a role in how it looks. Red contrasts differently against a black background than it does against a white one. It will look darker against the black, and much lighter and paler against the white.

Bad crumple screen print (rep)

Good crumple screen print (retail)

Final Notes

Keep in mind, once again, that this guide is meant to generalize based on overall consistency of box logos. Just like any bell curve, there will be some that are outside of what’s “normal” for box logos – some will have a good grain but will have crappy letters and still qualify as good. There are retail box logos with poor quality control, stitching flaws, bad grains, mis-stitched letters, and incorrect spacing. There’s just not a lot of them. So, the general consensus stands that they should look a certain way rather than another. This is what I’ve aimed to help some of you with by having put this together.

Hope it’s helpful and resourceful.

Credits

Courtesy of Reddit User u/BarakudaB, used with permission. Don’t hesitate to DM u/BarakudaB on Reddit or tag him in posts for help.