COMPLEXCON
Complexcon was a spectacle . Thousands of people with a wide ranging interest of streetwear culture paraded across the 572,387 sq footage of the Long Beach Convention Center. People were able to rock their seasonal finest or admire it on either the event's fashionable patrons or many of the larger than life booths created by brands big and small.
If you want music? They've got it. You want shopping? They've got it. You want to stand in long lines and listen to industry icons ranging from Pharrell to Ilana Glazer on social cultural issues? They've got that too.
With the many facets of ComplexCon, the Vibrvncy team decided to spend most of our time walking from booth to booth admiring the art, design and strategy put into place by brands to showcase their message and aesthetic whether by creating larger than life space and experience or a laser focused message to speak to their audience.
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Almost more of a pop art museum than a vendor booth, our friends at BAIT claimed a big section of the convention floor. Highlights included 6 pairs of the ultra rare NIKE Air Mags, the BANKSY x MEDICOM "Flower Bomber" polystone figure, and a larger than life MINDSTYLE NBA team. They also collaborated with renown artist Takashi Murakami to create the official COMPLEXCON figure, which sold out immediately.
MAEKAN
With a modest, but cleanly designed space, we were intrigued to learn about MAEKAN, and had a chance to talk to one of the founders, Eugene Kan. They are creating a new media platform with a subscription service for an auditory and visual experience. With the ease of listening instead of reading more text, Kan says that MAEKAN will be able to deliver content with more substance in a form that is easy to incorporate into our lifestyles. This stands in stark contrast to the shallow clickbait content that we are used to seeing today. As creators ourselves, we are excited to see where MAEKAN goes, as they promise to dive deeper into the subject matter we are interested in. After all, we were the ones walking around Complexcon admiring the creativity of booth spaces instead of standing hours in line for a hat. An orange hat is cool, but the fact that Neek Lurk has created a brand that can effortlessly get a line around the convention floor for it is much more interesting. #Storiesforthecurious
MODERNICA
The original manufacturers of the famous Eames armchair. The MODERNICA setup was created to resemble a Japanese Teahouse, highlighting a BAPE collaboration and several chairs featuring Japanese artwork. Much like their fiberglass chairs, the space was crafted with great attention to detail to both the interior and exterior, offering a uniquely intimate, zen-like experience amidst the chaos of the convention. We took a little break there to sit and enjoy some tea, and actually won this beautiful chair through their Instagram contest.
Of course , we couldn't leave without stopping in the concert for some west coast anthems by a west coast icon . "NUTTIN BUT A G THANG BABE"
Authors | Jon Shih , JUSTFENG
Photographers | Jon Shih , JUSTFENG , Hey Yeh
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