Fashion dictionary
drop culture
[drop kuhl-cher]
does drop culture mean?
drop is a limited release of merchandise, often as a marketing technique by streetwear fashion brands.Drop culture is the thinking, behavior, and community surrounding it.
Where does drop culture come from?

Remember the long lines outside stores when, say, a new phone is being released? Transplant them in front of a high-end fashion boutique and you’ve gotdrop culture.
ճdrop marketingmodel first appeared in the 1980s, created by sneaker brands like Nike and Adidas to get sneaker-heads hyped about a release. The premise? On a certain day at a certain time, limited-edition merchandise wasdropped (“released”)in a brick-and-mortar store. Once it sold out, it was gone for good.
Drop culture grew around the thrill of thedrop. The lines, the frantic shopping, the anticipation of future drops, the reselling of out-of-stock goods— theseall make up the culture.
In the 2010s, streetwear brands like Supreme and BAPE revitalized the concept of thedrop.Drop culture was a popular media topic, with publications likeThe New York Times andFashionista notablydiscussing it in 2016–17, not to mention among retail analysts and fashion enthusiasts.
Examples of drop culture

Who uses drop culture?
Drop culture is most frequently applied to brands that utilizedrops to distribute their goods. These companies also tend to have a loyal, passionate consumer base surrounding them, such asSupreme, Nike, Yeezy, and designer brands like Gucci.
Drop culture is another element of the marketing mix for companies and is being deployed by more and more brands.
— Network Design #creativethinking (@NetworkDesign1)
Every major publication in the fashion world seems to have written an article about howdrop culture is changing the retail dynamic. Examples areHypebeast, Forbes, Highsnobiety,andGrailed.
Digging Into Drop Culture: Evolving A Roaring Retail Ritual via
— Katie Baron (@katiebarontweet)
Consumers talk about it, too. Twitter and Reddit are conversation hubs for all thingsdrop culture. Complaints usually concern missingdrops, being unable to cop merchandise, and high resale prices.
when u thought u had it but u dont @ supreme
i hate this drop culture it’s frustrating af lmao
— kelzie t (@iluvsamoyeds)
There’s even a 2018 book by Byron Hawes, aptly calledDrop, which photographeddrop culture‘slines and hauls.
My haul from the latest Supreme drop 😎
— ❤ Galway Guy John ❤ (@GalwayJennings)
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of drop culture like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of drop culture that will help our users expand their word mastery.