Hundreds of people, dressed in flashy sneakers and bold outfits, milled about the convention center in Long Beach for Complexcon, a festival highlighting the latest in fashion, music, art and innovation on Nov. 18 and 19.
The festival is an opportunity for attendees to shop the latest sneakers and clothing while taking in art and live music. Many brands use Complexcon as a stage to introduce exclusive merch drops and innovations in shoe technology.
With 2-day tickets starting at $144, the festival tends to attract those who are serious about staying on trend.
For those with a casual interest in the scene, they feel the ticket price is worth being able to see the likes of Chris Brown, Lauren London and Russell Westbrook who visited booths and strolled the festival grounds over the weekend.
One such attendee is Christian Augustine who traveled from Canada to attend Complexcon and shelled out $600 for a VIP pass.
In addition to the benefits of regular admission he was also able to get first access to the items he wanted to buy.
“We get to shop two hours earlier than everyone else, which is cool because things tend to sell out,” Augustine said.
Ticket holders were able to attend star studded panels taking place over the weekend, titled Complexcon(versations).
For the first panel, former Nike marketer Bimma Willaims hosted a live taping of his podcast with rapper and producer IDK for Williams’ podcast “Claima.”
“Claima” explores the idea of turning one’s hobbies into lucrative businesses and ushering in the next generation of creatives.
Shoes from an exclusive Saucony brand drop were given away at the end of the panel.
Throughout the weekend, other panels included rapper T.I. promoting his new indie film, Oakley’s creative executives and collaborators discussing the legacy of the brand and a panel on the future of streetwear.
Sneaker of the year was announced at one of the most anticipated panels on day two.
As in years past, the conversation around the hottest sneaker drew heavy contention.
For 2023, a New Balance collaboration with rapper Action Bronson was named as the sneaker of the year to a crowd of mixed reactions.
“The shoe kinda looks like him. If he was a shoe, that’d be him (Action Bronson),” rapper Lil Yachty, who sat on the panel joked.
Streetwear brand RTFKT and Nike collaborated on the Dunk Genesis OG, a futuristic looking shoe in a silver and blue colorway with detachable components and a metallic overlay which created a buzz over the weekend.
Other brands with exclusive merch drops for the weekend were Members of the Rage (MOTR) owned by Kid Cudi, Open Air, and Adidas.
Aside from sneakers and fashion, art was at the forefront of Complexcon which for 2023, featured work from the likes of Takashi Murakami and Rello from Chicago.
Rello’s art takes notable pop culture icons such as Astro Boy and reimagines them as Black characters.
“The overarching story (in my art) is a question of representation,” Rello said.
“The astroboy piece was inspired by Billy Dee Williams who played Lando Calrissian in Star Wars. It’s like taking these characters and telling Black stories from a universal view, ” Rello said, alluding to the fact that most of these characters are widely known.
Nostalgia was a theme throughout Complexcon this year with some brands collaborating with icons such as Barney, the dinosaur and the Minions from “Despicable Me”.
Some brands leaned into the idea of nostalgia by incorporating interactive elements like vintage video games for attendees to play with.
The weekend ended with an hour-long set from Kid Cudi, who performed a mix of newer tunes and classic hits, “for the OG fans”.
As Complexcon drew to a close, Cudi threw merch from his MOTR brand into the crowd and signed autographs.
