 There's a whole subculture of fashion out there that a lot of people probably aren't even aware of. It has people waiting hours and sometimes even days in lines like this just to get their hands on something from a new collection. This is the world of streetwear. Streetwear originally comes from the skate and hip-hop culture of the 90s but has recently been growing faster than ever before and the fashion world can't seem to stop talking about how the industry is being turned on its head because of it. I mean what creates such a demand for this $150 hoodie that people are willing to pay up to $1,500 for it on the resale market? Well it doesn't really come down to how they're made or what they're made of. It's because of how they're sold. I wanted to learn more about streetwear so I met up with an expert to chat about it. I'm Jeff Carvalho, managing director of North America for HighSnowBody.com. Streetwear tends to be defined as clothing, garments, and sneakers in general but actually it's much more than that. In my opinion it's a mindset. Streetwear what makes it most interesting is that it really does allow for a variety of different ideas to come together and be in many ways defined by not only what somebody's wearing but the interest that person has. On top of making it easier for people to express themselves, streetwear has a lot of other things going for it. Arguably the most important is the retail model used by streetwear brands, the drop model. The drop model is a mechanism of delivering product and goods at a weekly schedule essentially. When traditional retail brands release a new collection all the items arrive in the store at one given time and it's safe to say that if you come back in a few weeks or even months the same stuff will still be available. On the other hand items released in a drop typically sell out in minutes or hours and are never restocked. If you want something from a drop it's important that you're in line that day to make sure you get it. This brings me back to that line from earlier. These are customers outside of a store waiting for a drop. So with proven success like this and still so many retailers using traditional models the drop must be something new, right? Well the drop model actually has been around for many decades. In fact the Japanese really are the ones that pioneered it. If you look at Japanese retail back in the 90s and even the late 80s they've been using the model for quite some time. The model was then brought stateside with true effect through say Supreme who does a Thursday release. Every Thursday you know that Supreme will be putting out some portion of their collection during a season. Supreme is one of the most coveted streetwear brands making these Thursday release items pretty hard to get your hands on. Remember that hoodie that resells for $1,500? After a little bit of research I found out that this Thursday Supreme is releasing a new pair of shoes. So I figured I'd give it a shot to see what it's all about. Instead of the long lines that used to form at storefronts Supreme has completely changed their shopping experience. Now you just sign up for a spot in line a few days before. Cool. Do you get it? Yeah. Prior to Thursday you'll be notified via text of your acceptance in line either Lafayette Street or Dover Street Market. And after just three minutes all of the available spots were completely filled. When Thursday came around I headed to the Supreme store in New York City at my 1045 appointment time. After 20 minutes or so of waiting in line I went inside and was surprised it was pretty simple to get a pair of the shoes. Even though my experience went well it's not always so easy to buy from Supreme on drop day. A quick Google search even turns up in-depth guides and how-to's on the topic. And this got me thinking, realistically how limited are these items? The perceived scarcity of drops really just comes out of consumer demand. In some cases there's product out there especially with footwear where consumers believe there is a shortage of that good. But the truth is they're just a massive demand. There's clearly going to be a gray market or a third party market that allows for consumers to get their hands on that. And that's where reselling really picks up. According to a study done by fashion resale site ThreadUp, apparel resale is likely to grow 24 times faster than the retail sector over the next five years. An account for an estimated $20 billion of the total U.S. resale market. Needless to say secondhand markets are a huge part of streetwear. And while a lot of people might just flip their items on eBay or Instagram, there are also fashion-specific resale sites like grailed.com. Just an hour after my shoes were released, there were already almost 100 pairs being resold on grailed, some for upwards of $300. I would say that's a decent profit on a pair of shoes that cost just $110. The changes that we're discussing today definitely are affecting fashion and retail in general. While the drop model is great of course for selling product very quickly, usually limited edition, we think it's a very interesting tactic in getting new consumers in the door. I think at times it's also a way for them to use it as a test bed to understand if consumers are interested in that product and if it resonates. There's no arguing that all brands would love to have even just a fraction of the buzz that Supreme's able to generate every single week. Ultimately, this begs the question, why don't all brands just adopt the drop model? The drop model is not the way to simply win. It's just one mechanism in a new way of looking at retail. Retailers and certainly brands are at this moment trying to figure out how to continue to service their consumers in a better way. And there's a lot of focus now on the experience of consumption.