Gen Z is obsessed with Supreme, the skater brand that sells out within seconds. Here's what it's like to go to one of its heavily hyped launches.

Business Insider/Jessica Tyler

Supreme's launches are a big deal because almost everything sells out instantly.

• Teens are obsessed with Supreme, a skater brand that has seen mainstream success in recent years.
• Supreme has garnered a lot of attention in the past week after copies of the New York Post with Supreme ads on the cover flew off the shelves. Almost all Supreme products sell out instantly.
• Because of how quickly new products sell out, product launches, which fans call "drops," have become heavily hyped-up events.
• We went to the first big drop of the Fall/Winter 2018 season to see what it was like. 

Supreme, once a niche skater brand, has become Gen Z's latest obsession. 

Supreme was founded in 1994 by James Jebbia and has since grown from a skater-centric brand to a mainstream apparel brand with its own cult following. The brand ranked seventh among upper-income teens' favorite brands in a spring 2018 survey by Piper Jaffray, and in 2017, Supreme received a roughly $500 million cash infusion from The Carlyle Group, which valued the brand at $1 billion.

Earlier this week, loyal fans snatched up copies of the New York Post that featured a wraparound Supreme ad on the cover. The papers flew off the shelves, with copies of it now listed on eBay for many times its normal listing price. The paper typically costs $1.50.

It isn't just the branded newspaper that fans are willing to pay for - most Supreme products sell out almost instantly, oftentimes ending up on eBay for as much as eight times the retail price.

Because of how quickly Supreme products sell out, the launches, known as "drops," have become some of the most anticipated events of the year for its followers. Supreme drops happen each Thursday throughout the Fall/Winter season and Spring/Summer season, both online and in stores. And if you're lucky, you'll be able to buy a product or two before the website crashes and everything sells out.  

We went to the highly anticipated first drop of the Fall/Winter 2018 season at the Supreme store on Lafayette Street in New York City. Here's what it was like: