ComplexCon returned this year November 3-4 in Long Beach, California for the third time around bringing entertainment, art, entrepreneurship, culture, social action, music, food, sports, retail, streetwear together. ComplexCon was probably the event of the year as the gathering of some of the greatest creative minds in the world. Four walls for two days to get excited about modern youth culture. Over 50,000 people came to see all that ComplexCon had to offer. On the music front, the hip-hop artists Future, Rae Sremmurd, Vince Staples, Action Bronson, Nav, Lil Baby, T-Pain, Tinashe, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Flipp Dinero held it down on both Saturday and Sunday. For the ComplexCon, Issa Rae, Jemele Hill, Virgil Abloh, Ronnie Fieg, Jaden Smith, Lena Waithe, Don C., Tommy Hilfiger, Victor Cruz, Kerby Jean-Raymond, Joe La Puma, DJ Clark Kent, Sean Evans, Jerry Lorenzo, Shiggy, Teyana Taylor, YBN Nahmir, Lewis Hamilton, and more, delved into their passions.
Of course, without the limited sneaker drops, ComplexCon would not be as big as it is today. Although people who were not in LA missed out, it’s even more reason to buy a plane ticket and fly out to California for the once-a-year event. Sneakers-wise the most hyped releases were the Air Force 1 Low Retro Cocoa Snake (a retro version of the ones from 2001) , Adidas NMD Hu Pharrell N.E.R.D. Blue (released with a hoodie and tee exclusively through Frenzy app reservation at ComplexCon), Pusha T x Adidas EQT Cushion 2 (limited to 40 pairs and only available through raffle on ComplexCon app), Diamonds Supply Co. x Nike SB Dunk Low “Canary” (only 250 pairs available and the release was canceled and moved online due to massive crowding), Union Vans Era and Union Vans Slip-On (after Union’s Jordan 1 Retro High Gold Top 3 release last year, this is a more low key release instead of the newest Union Jordan 1’s), and the Fear of God Essentials x Converse (released at the PacSun booth), Pleasures x adidas Samba, Champion and Timberland Boots.
Among the most hyped clothing releases were OVO x Takashi Murakami (hoodies, tees, varsity jacket, posters), BBC (Star Trak merch and BE@RBRICK), AAPE, Guess Jeans x Places and Faces (3M details on clothing). Adidas had its own booth where you had to download the ComplexCon app and scan a virtual cube hanging from the ceiling during a certain drop time. The Dragonball Z collection and the Pharrell NMD were available for purchase. Different locations were released for users to go and scan the cubes to win these shoes. Atmos also teased a new Air Max2 Light, tentatively scheduled for next year’s Air Max Day, March 26.
The Zen booth was my favorite at ComplexCon. Zen partnered with Complex release a miniseries called Sole Origins about four cities (NYC, LA, Paris, Tokyo) and the sneakers they inspired last month. At ComplexCon, Zen was featured as a one-stop shop for sneaker grails, giving away the shoes featured in the series (for free! The only caveat was that you had to wear the shoes out of the booth) including the Jordan 3 Atmos, Jordan 1 Retro Legends of Summer Black, UNDFTD Jordan 4, Nike Air Mag Back To The Future (2011), adidas Yeezy Boost 350 Turtledove, Shoe Surgeon customized Off-White Jordan 1, Nike SB Dunk Low Tokyo, Air Max 1/97 Sean Wotherspoon, adidas NMD Hu Pharrell Friends and Family Shock Pink, Air Force 1 High VLONE, and much more. Zen was not just about the sneaker culture, it told a deeper story of how the culture formed and where we are today as a result.
In the food section, affectionally called First We Feast Lagoon, there was Hot Ones (the hot take on YouTube interviewing celebrities), and more. Sneakersnstuff (also known as SNS) was announced as a retail partner of ComplexCon. As a Swedish sneaker boutique, it was odd that it was only collaborating with Lil’ Sweet Chick (NYC fried chicken restaurant) but it later turned out that there was much more to the eye than expected. One of the main items on the menu was the “heat sauce” and when you asked for it, they gave you a link to register for the event and then sent emails at random times unlocking access to special releases. Among the notable releases were the Air Max 1 Atmos, Off-White Jordan 1 “White”, Off-White Jordan “University Blue”, Off-White Converse Chuck Taylor, Travis Scott Jordan 4, Jordan 1 Retro High Nigel Sylvester, Jordan 4 Retro Levi’s, Jordan 1 Retro High Gold Toe, Jordan 1 Retro High Satin Shattered Backboard, Jordan 1 Retro High Yellow Ochre, Jordan 1 Retro High Track Red, Skepta Air Max 97/BW, Air Vapormax Off-White White, Air Vapormax Off-White Black, Air Presto Off-White White, Air Max 1 Atmos (2018, 2004), Air Max 95 Atmos, Air Jordan 1 Court Purple, Jordan 5 Retro BCFC, Undercover Nike React Element 87 Yellow, and more. It was a fitting event considering SNS had just opened a new store in LA.
During the many ComplexCon(versations) held at the event, one of the highly anticipated ones was the discussion surrounding Sneaker of the Year. Ultimately, the panel decided the top shoe was the Nike React Element 87 followed by the Sean Wotherspoon Air Max 1/97. Joe La Puma moderated the event and retired basketball legend Allen Iverson joined in. I agree with the panel’s choice because Nike’s React foam technology is revolutionary in its cushioning and durability and is a fitting response to adidas’ Boost technology. Virgil Abloh also showed up to another Conversation about merging design and fashion wearing the Off-White Nike Air Force 1 “Volt”.
Many unique shoes are on the horizon and people were rightfully excited. There were also a lot of unique experiences such as HBO’s barbershop, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch and Creed II film booths, and TikTok. If I tried to name every single experience, art installation, clothing shop, and food truck, I would probably run out of space in the entire Stute paper so I will stop here. Overall, ComplexCon seemed like another cool meeting place for streetwear enthusiasts to connect and show off their most coveted pairs of sneakers. ComplexCon is rumored to make an appearance in Chicago in July 2019 so keep an eye out for that if you happen to live in the Windy City.
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