ComplexCon celebrated its tenth anniversary moving into Los Angeles proper. After starting in Long Beach and spending the previous two years in Las Vegas, Complex took over the Los Angeles Convention Center and neighboring Crypto.com Arena. More than 300 brands were announced, with Playboi Carti and Hiroshi Fujiwara of Fragment Design serving as artistic directors. The new setup gave the weekend an easy rhythm: shop, discover and hang out on the convention floor, then head next door for the performances. In a city where fashion, music, food and entertainment constantly overlap, the move felt like a natural fit.
Let’s start with the music. Ken Carson kicked off the weekend at Crypto.com Arena with a set that brought the full intensity of Opium into a room built for that kind of scale, and Playboi Carti made a surprise appearance during the first night. Carti then closed out the second night with one of the biggest moments of the weekend, bringing out Kanye West for three songs, including “Off the Grid” and “Carnival,” while North West also came onstage. Ken Carson, Destroy Lonely and Travis Scott were among the other guests who appeared during the performance. It made Opium’s presence at ComplexCon feel bigger than a booth or a merch drop. Its massive basketball court gave fans a place to gather during the convention, while the arena turned that same following into a full live experience.The connection between the music, the clothes and the crowd felt immediate.
On the convention floor, some of the best booths were the ones that actually gave people a reason to stay. Body by Raven Tracy was 360 MAGAZINE’s favorite. Every visit felt like walking into a party already in progress, with music, people hanging out and an energy that went way beyond shopping the clothes. Founder, Raven Tracy, and DJs Hu-dat & Nebula, were in attendance which added to the familiar, social feel around the booth. Body became one of those spaces attendees kept coming back after they were done browsing to enjoy a party-feel. I.AM.GIA went in a completely different direction, with models moving through the activation with their bodies fully painted red, turning the booth into something closer to a live installation. Opium went for pure scale with its basketball court. Together, the booths showed how different brands could create an actual experience instead of simply putting product on racks.
There were plenty of celebrity moments mixed into the floor as well. Quavo was among the attendees, with QhromeLife adding another artist-led project to a weekend where musicians were just as present on the brand side as they were onstage. Kai Cenat also debuted VIVET and sat down with Fear of God founder Jerry Lorenzo. Even with the massive installations and celebrity appearances, though, some of the strongest moments came from finding smaller brands. One of 360 Magazine’s favorite discoveries was Jack John Jr., an underrated label whose clothes stood on their own without needing a huge activation around them. The pleated raw denim was the standout: heavy, structured and built around exaggerated folds. The heather grey pieces brought a quieter balance to the collection and made it feel wearable without losing any personality. Something calm, but heavy. The appeal was really in the fabric, proportion and construction.That contrast was part of what made the floor interesting. Jack John Jr. made an impression through the product itself. Body by Raven Tracy pulled people in with atmosphere. I.AM.GIA turned its aesthetic into a physical experience. Opium built an entire world across both the convention floor and the stage.
ThriftCon also brought vintage and upcycled clothing into the mix, giving the weekend some breathing room between all the new drops and major collaborations. Premium releases and secondhand finds shared the same audience, which made the shopping experience feel more personal than simply chasing whatever was newest.
Family Style Food Festival gave everyone another reason to keep exploring. The food program brought restaurants and collaborative menus into the same space as the clothing drops, with a lineup that included Majordomo, Pizzeria Sei, The Boiling Crab, Bone Kettle and Sandoitchi, along with smaller operators and pop-ups. The collaborations leaned into the same limited-release mentality as the fashion side of the event. Big Baby’s Cornbread teamed up with Hilltop Coffee and Kitchen, Kuro Artisanal Pizza appeared with Satoshi Nakamoto, and Handles Coffee partnered with VandyThePink. Instead of feeling like a standard convention food, it became another part of the experience. That made even more sense with ComplexCon moving to LA. Food is a huge part of the city’s creative identity, and Family Style gave it room alongside the designers, artists and performers. Visitors could bounce from a clothing label to a restaurant to a concert without really leaving the same cultural conversation.
What made the tenth anniversary work was how much was happening beyond the obvious headliners. Ken Carson set the tone early, and Playboi Carti’s closing performance with Kanye West, Travis Scott and the rest of the guests delivered the major arena moment. But the booths, smaller labels and food program gave the weekend its personality. For 360 Magazine, that mix was the real takeaway: a huge performance could be the headline, while a denim label discovered between two bigger booths could end up being the real showstopper.
