‘Drop’ culture has always been central to streetwear.
By selling limited amounts of stock, brands create hype whilst engineering a sense of FOMO around their image, increasing the chances of their products selling out.
From a sustainability perspective, this sounds great – if a brand limits its stock, it should use less material, and waste less resources. Right?
But whether this actually ends up happening is a different story.
Although drop culture drives hype, which is great for brands, it also drives an insatiable appetite for newness.
The monthly churn of drops encourages consumers to buy more frequently, but not necessarily more thoughtfully.
Large streetwear brands continue to ship in high volume globally, just in smaller and more frequent batches.
These mini drops create the illusion of low-waste design, yet they still rely on rapid manufacturing cycles, global shipping and disposable trends – all of which contribute to a significant environmental footprint.
The fast-paced nature of drop culture can also obscure the real impact of clothing production. By priming consumers for the imminent arrival of the next limited release, streetwear fans may become less likely to question where and how their clothes are made.
To get an idea of how drop culture impacts other areas of streetwear, including sellers operating from the ground on sites such as Vinted and Depop, Current Archive spoke to Joseph Best, owner of Depop page BestThreadz.
“Even though I only work with second hand clothes, there’s definitely an ironic pressure on Depop sellers. Especially those who actually have a decent following and reputation,” says Joseph.
“I’m constantly having to keep up with the streetwear hype, putting up new stuff just to keep up with the algorithm. Even though I try to sell stuff that’s already second hand, I do sometimes have to try and find new rare pieces just to keep an edge to my page.”
So for sellers like Joseph, the main compromise to slow-fashion and ethical selling comes from the need to stay relevant and visible – a feat that drop culture makes increasingly difficult.
“I’m still a fan of the concept of drops, but I do think they’re problematic. If people miss something they really want, they can just wait a few weeks until the next ‘limited’ item is out. More time and room needs to be given to DIY, re-working older clothes and second-hand selling.”
Drop culture’s appeal lies within its energy, unpredictability and perhaps most importantly, its exclusivity. But as this becomes normalised, its constant demand for new pieces has its own environmental implications. So, the question is, can streetwear’s drop culture avoid the mistakes of fast-fashion and flip the narrative to become more about storytelling, quality and originality?
