Definition and Meaning, a boutique clothing store that exclusively sells clothing made by the Definition and Meaning (DAM) brand, opened in Flossmoor Commons this spring.
Definition and Meaning sells athletic and casual wear. The inventory includes T-shirts, hoodies, sweatsuits, varsity jackets, jeans, baseball caps and other clothing for men, women and children.
Everything in the store has the Definition and Meaning logo on it. Many products have the logo largely and prominently displayed, while a few products, such as the black jeans, only have the logo on the tag. The brand name is sometimes spelled out as “Definitions and Meaning: Chicago.” Other times, it’s spelled as the acronym, “DAM.”
“Every single thing has ‘DAM’ on it,” Definition and Meaning owner Derrick Frazier said. “It’s catchy. I want a DAM shirt. I want a DAM hoodie.”
The T-shirts include but aren’t limited to featuring a design about money being the root of all evil, a T-shirt with the blue check mark from social media websites accompanied by the slogan, “I’m verified in real life,” and T-shirts with the slogans “define yourself to mean something,” and “Black pain.” Another T-shirt says, “DAM, racism still exists.”
Definition and Meaning also sells a T-shirt that says, “The Black King: It’s the most important piece in the game,” accompanied by an image of the black king piece in chess.
“It’s referring to chess and life,” Frazier said.
Frazier started the DAM brand in 2019, using his website to sell clothing and hand-delivering items to his customers.
“I started off just selling T-shirts. And then in my first two months, I sold over 3,000 T-shirts,” Frazier said. “So, the urge grew to get more involved in fashion.”
Frazier said he opened the physical storefront in Flossmoor Commons to widen his customer base, to relieve himself of the amount of work that home delivery used to be and because his inventory was getting bigger than what he could feasibly list online.
“I get a lot of new customers pretty much every day,” Frazier said.
Frazier said making fashion is more than just a business but a lifestyle. He said fashion is always changing which always gives him new opportunities to be creative.
Definition and Meaning had a grand opening celebration on April 27. Frazier said he didn’t inform the village of Flossmoor about it because it was “spur of the moment,” adding that many friends, family and community members were there.
DAM brand T-shirts were featured in several scenes in the 2023 movie, “On Da Run,” currently streaming for free on Tubi.
Definition and Meaning is at 3321 Vollmer Road. It’s open Wednesday through Saturday from 1 until 8 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 until 6 p.m. The store is closed on Monday and open on Tuesday by appointment only.