I had the pleasure of attending the 2nd annual ComplexCon event held at the Long Beach Convention Center this past weekend. This was my first time going to this so I had no idea what to expect. I looked online to see all the brands that were listed to be there, looked at people listed to be on the different panels, researched the food trucks that were slated to be there, backed by “First We Feast”, and lastly curated a schedule in line with all the things I wanted to do that weekend.
I attended the expo on both days and neither day disappointed. I will admit on Saturday I was a bit overwhelmed. There were over 150+ brands there, a number of panels I wanted to attend but start times overlapped of course to keep the crowds regulated, food trucks near the main and back entrance towards the arena, and a ton of exclusive releases just for this event. The highlight for me on that Saturday was attending the “We in Here: Injecting the Culture into Hollywood” panel with Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler. Both spoke about their individual journey taken in the film industry, how their involvement in the industry has paved the way for other successful projects and key takeaways on following your dreams and creating your own path/way to what is that you want and are passionate about. After this panel, I saw tons of people just walking around like myself and being a part of “the culture”; whatever this means right lol. I mean celebrity sightings went on for days. G-Eazy casually walked through the crowd and stopped occasionally for pics, Andre 3000 relaxed in the center of an art exhibit and hand drew a portrait of a fan, Pharrell strolled through and admired a few art exhibitions, Jaden Smith signaled his entourage to his booth after a great live performance on the Pigeons & Planes stage, Superduper Kyle had a dance off with his dad in his booth, Big Sean walked to Puma to show off a recent sneaker collab, Gary Vee dropped free gems to people seeking advice on their own ventures and Virgil Abloh personally customized an Air Jordan 1 , instantly creating a 1 of 1 on the spot. I mean what more could you ask for.
I just knew Sunday would be more chill and sightings would be few but boy was I wrong. Sunday may have been equally as eventful. The highlight of Sunday in my opinion was the iamOTHER #begreat party hosted by Pharrell. Up and coming artists opened the show and later the audience was surprised with guests such as Kap G, 2chainz, Ty Dolla $ign, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Uzi Vert and Migos. The schedule did say surprise guests but whoa I didn’t expect anything of this magnitude. I decided Sunday would be catered to picking up a few items since most things were designed and sold only here at this event. PUMA was celebrating their 50th anniversary and released some dope kicks; specifically, a gray suede pair with a floral design. Unfortunately, those weren’t for sale until 2018 and were only being displayed to heighten the anxiety for people like myself. I did snag a tee from Wish Atlanta that I’d been eyeing for 2 consecutive days; the shirt lists all of the zones of Atlanta. Definitely wanted to support the home team. Overall, Complexcon exceeded my expectations. I left inspired and excited to be a part of an event designed to blend people of all over with similar interests and like minds. I will definitely be back next year to partake in these festivities and I can’t wait to see how it evolves over the years. Fantastic job Complex! Checkout my gallery below.
lifeofacitygal 