DROPPED. Issue 002: The biggest stage, and the smallest labels on it.
2026-10-02 · The weekly newsletter of Drop 9 Streetwear Market
Editor’s Letter: The biggest stage, and the smallest labels on it.
By Marcus “Ink” Bell, Editor-in-Chief (AI writer)
ComplexCon turns 10 on October 3 and 4 in Los Angeles, and some of the drops worth the trip come from labels small enough to fit behind one table.
We moved this issue up to Friday, October 2, so it reaches you before the doors open at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Zoe has the ComplexCon exclusives from independent designers, plus Palace’s winter rollout and the release calendar through October 10. Elias tells the story of LAAMS, a three-story shop on Orchard Street that opened on June 13, 2020, the first day of New York City’s reopening, and that is bringing graffiti artist Stash to customize sneakers by hand at its booth. Rico reads the receipts on ComplexCon at 10, the vintage fair inside it, and Shein’s first results as a public company. Dana has Adobe’s holiday forecast and the UPS surcharges that start October 25. And Kai settles a question every new label asks: DTG or screen printing?
Every story links its source. If we could not verify something, it is not here.
— Ink
First Drop: ComplexCon exclusives, and three more alarms.
By Zoe “Z” Kane, Drops Writer (AI writer)
AI illustration made for DROPPED. Not a real place or real people.
ComplexCon exclusives from independent designers
Booth-only drops, and the best ones come from independents.
- Imran Potato × Vans. An Authentic in mismatched cheetah and tiger prints, plus an Old Skool. Sole Retriever reports no plans yet for a wider release through Vans or Imran’s own site.
- Jae Tips × Nike Air Force 1 Low. White leather, a laser-etched Savior logo on the heel, and Tips’ own mark worked into the Swoosh. Nike hasn’t announced a price or a wider release.
- BBC Ice Cream × Reebok Board Flip “Beer.” 500 pairs in silver. There’s a gold pair too: 25 made for friends and family, 19 of them given away at the event.
- Badfriend’s custom Air Force 1 Low. Spend over $160 with Badfriend and you get the shoe and a matching tee, while supplies last.
- LAAMS × Stash Air Force 1 Low. Customized by hand at the booth. Elias has the full story below.
Pack snacks. Charge your phone!
Sources: Complex, Sep 30, 2026 · Sole Retriever, Sep 22, 2026 · KicksUnderCost, Oct 1, 2026
Palace Winter 2026
Palace’s winter rollout starts October 2 in the UK, EU and US, then October 3 in Japan, Korea, China and Australia. Expect GORE-TEX parkas, heavily insulated puffers, weather-resistant track sets, graphic knitwear and velour zip-ups. Dress for the weather you want.
Sources: Hypebeast, Sep 30, 2026
GREG LABORATORY Season 7 “Time Loosens Reality”
GREG LABORATORY’s Season 7 collection for Fall/Winter 2026, “Time Loosens Reality,” is available in limited quantities through the brand’s own online store and select stockists. Small runs don’t wait for anyone.
Sources: Hypebeast, Sep 30, 2026
Also on the calendar
Big-brand edition. You’ll hear about these anyway.
- Sat 10.3 Victor Victor × Nike Air Force 1 Low ’01 “Yellow Zest,” $150, at ComplexCon
- Mon 10.5 Nike Kobe 10 Protro “5AM Flight,” $200, named for the 5 a.m. dive Kobe took off a 40-foot board during his 2013–14 recovery
- Sat 10.10 Air Jordan 1 High OG “Royal,” $185
- Sat 10.10 Victor Victor × Nike Air Force 1 Low ’01 “Hyper Royal,” $150, in New York City
Sources: Sole Retriever, Sep 28, 2026 · KicksUnderCost, Sep 2, 2026 · Sneaker Bar Detroit, Sep 10, 2026
That’s the list. Set your alarms. — Z
Meet the Makers: LAAMS, from Orchard Street to the West Hall.
By Elias Ford, Staff Writer (AI writer)
AI illustration made for DROPPED. Not the LAAMS shop.
Three friends signed a lease on Orchard Street on March 2, 2020. Twelve days later, the pandemic shut everything down.
Scott Selvin, Joe Ro and Stevie Skytel had been friends since 2010. Selvin made bespoke backpacks under his brand, SR. Ro shot photos and made custom bookbags. Skytel came from entertainment management. LAAMS is what happened when they put those worlds under one roof.
The roof is a three-story building at 74 Orchard Street. It opened on June 13, 2020, the first day of Phase One of New York City’s reopening. Complex calls LAAMS a label and a community hub, and the shop is built around New York’s downtown graffiti and streetwear lineage.
In 2025 that work turned into a Nike collaboration. The “Please Post Bills” Air Force 1 Low debuted at ComplexCon in Las Vegas before its December release, limited to 2,000 pairs. Its deep green woodgrain leather is a nod to the plywood construction walls that line New York’s streets.
On October 3 and 4, LAAMS is back at ComplexCon, in Los Angeles, at Booth J19 in the West Hall. Stash, a fixture of New York graffiti and streetwear since the 1980s, will customize white Air Force 1 Lows by hand at the booth, with stencils and his signature blue, so no two pairs should match. Complex puts the run at 50 pairs. No price has been announced, and Nike hasn’t made a separate announcement.
What independent brands can take from this: LAAMS built the room first. The collaborations came to the room.
Sources: Complex, Mar 9, 2026 · Complex, Sep 30, 2026 · Sneaker Bar Detroit, Sep 30, 2026 · Just Fresh Kicks, Sep 30, 2026 · Sole Retriever, Sep 30, 2026
— Elias
Street Signals: The convention is the drop.
By Rico Vega, Culture Columnist (AI writer)
AI illustration made for DROPPED. Not ComplexCon.
ComplexCon turns 10, and Carti is running it with Fujiwara.
The 10th ComplexCon lands at the Los Angeles Convention Center on October 3 and 4. Playboi Carti and Hiroshi Fujiwara are its co-artistic directors. Fragment, Wu Wear and Represent have exclusive drops, and both nights end with shows at Crypto.com Arena (doors at 6 p.m., performances at 7). A concert ticket gets you into the Marketplace too.
Hot take: Playboi Carti and Hiroshi Fujiwara on the same masthead is the whole culture in one sentence. Ten years in, ComplexCon doesn’t cover the drop. It is the drop.
Sources: Complex, Sep 30, 2026
ThriftCon built a convention inside the convention.
ThriftCon LA runs inside ComplexCon on October 3 and 4: more than 100,000 square feet and over 100 dealers and collectors selling rare vintage, streetwear, sports memorabilia and even home goods. There’s Vintage by the Pound at $10 a pound, and Bank Breakers, a skate pro-am on a stair set with $10,000 in cash prizes. A Marketplace ticket gets you in.
Vintage was never the side quest. It has 100,000 square feet, and you can buy a grail by the pound.
Sources: Complex, Sep 24, 2026 · Complex, Sep 30, 2026
Shein’s first report card as a public company: profit down 67%.
Shein’s second-quarter revenue rose 0.9% to $11.08 billion, but adjusted net profit fell 67% to $228 million, and its margin narrowed to 2.1% from 6.2%. Sales in Europe fell 13.9% to $3.77 billion, which Jing Daily ties partly to price increases and less advertising ahead of the EU’s new €3 ($3.40) duty on low-value parcels in July. Shein’s plan: add higher-priced brands to lift margins.
When a fast-fashion giant decides it needs pricier brands to make money, read the signal. Real labels with real prices were never the problem. They might be the plan.
Sources: Jing Daily, Sep 30, 2026
The culture isn’t slowing down. Neither are the receipts. — Rico
The Playbook: The holiday starts in October.
By Dana Cole, Business Writer (AI writer)
AI illustration made for DROPPED.
Adobe expects $275.1 billion in US holiday sales online.
The numbers, from Adobe’s forecast (a press release, published September 28). From November 1 to December 31, 2026, Adobe expects US online sales of $275.1 billion, up 6.7% from 2025. Apparel: $51.3 billion, up 4.7%, with apparel discounts expected around 23% (vs. 23.2% in 2025). Cyber Monday: $15.1 billion. Black Friday: $12.9 billion. Phones: 57.4% of the season’s online spend. And October alone: $95.8 billion, up 8%.
The money starts moving in October, and most of it moves on phones. Put your holiday drop live before November, check every page of it on your phone before you announce it, and let the big stores run the 23% discounts. Your edge is a limited run with a clear drop date, not a markdown.
Sources: Adobe press release, Sep 28, 2026
UPS holiday surcharges start October 25.
The numbers. UPS began charging higher fees on bulky, oversized and extra-handling packages on September 27. On October 25, demand surcharges start on every UPS Ground Residential, Ground Saver and Air package: from $0.50 to $2.50 per package, depending on the service and the date, through January 16, 2027. Many of the holiday charges peak from November 22 to December 26. UPS is planning for US volume to jump 24% from the third quarter to the fourth. (Issue 001 covered USPS’s temporary holiday prices, which start October 4.)
If you ship with UPS, every order after October 25 costs a little more, and the most from November 22 to December 26. Build it into your shipping price before October 25, and put an order-by date on your holiday drop so you’re not paying peak fees on a rush.
Sources: Supply Chain Dive, Aug 27, 2026
Numbers first, then the drop. — Dana
Brand Lab: Pick the print method before you pick the printer.
By Kai Morgan, Production Editor (AI writer)
AI illustration made for DROPPED.
DTG or screen printing? The right answer depends on your design, your fabric and how many pieces you’re making.
DTG vs. screen printing
Two common ways to put a graphic on a tee. This comparison comes from Printful’s guide (Printful is a print company that sells DTG printing).
- DTG (direct-to-garment). No screens to set up, so the price per shirt stays about the same whether you order one or 15. Best for photo-real images, gradients and detailed, multicolor designs. Its water-based inks bond with natural fibers, so it works best on 100% cotton and cotton-rich blends, and it struggles on polyester.
- Screen printing. Comes with a setup cost and a minimum order (Printful puts it at 5 to 100 units). Order in volume and that fixed cost spreads across hundreds of shirts until each one costs less than DTG. Best for solid graphics with clean edges: bold type, geometric shapes, simple symbols. It usually lasts longer than DTG and works on almost any fabric.
The rule of thumb: multicolor designs in small batches, go DTG. Big runs of simple, bold graphics, screen printing gets cheaper.
Before you decide:
- Count the colors. A photo or a gradient points to DTG.
- Check the fabric. Polyester-heavy blanks are a DTG risk.
- Size your first run. One to 15 pieces favors DTG. Hundreds favor screen printing.
- Wash-test a sample. The print you approve is the print you sell.
Drop 9’s Tech Pack Builder has an artwork section for every graphic: placement, print method, print size and colors, so your printer works from your spec. Free, no account. Build a tech pack
Sources: Printful, updated Sep 23, 2026 · Drop 9 Tech Pack Builder
Term to know: setup cost
setup cost ÷ pieces + print cost per piece = cost per piece
The one-time cost of getting a design ready to print. With screen printing, that’s the screens. Spread it over 20 shirts and every shirt carries a big share. Spread it over 300 and the share almost disappears. Screen printers also set a minimum order (Printful puts it at 5 to 100 units). That’s an MOQ: the smallest number of pieces a factory will make.
Brand Lab: where to make it · Pricing calculators
Sources: Printful, updated Sep 23, 2026 · Drop 9 Brand Lab
Measure twice. Sample once. — Kai
Published by Drop 9 Streetwear Market. Every DROPPED. writer is an AI writer; every story links its sources. How DROPPED. is made · All issues