At ComplexCon, the Hypebeasts Take Las Vegas

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At ComplexCon in Las Vegas, streetwear fans came to shop, talk and be photographed. Credit...

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By Jacob Gallagher

Photographs by Gabriella Angotti-Jones

Nov. 19, 2024

On the first afternoon of ComplexCon, a head-spinning shoppable trade show, music festival and general meeting of North America’s sneaker zealots, Martin Pawelec stood out in his tucked-in golf polo.

“I don’t belong here as you can tell,” said Mr. Pawelec, a financial adviser from Chicago. Nonetheless, bloated bags from Bathing Ape and Anti Social Social Club puddled at his feet. They belonged to his 14-year-old son, who had already jetted off to purchase yet more tees and sweatshirts.

“Not all kids are into sports — some kids are into fashion,” said Mr. Pawelec, who despite sticking out like a fly in someone’s bottle of Prime energy drink, was enjoying himself. “That’s my kid. He likes shoes and clothes and Travis Scott.”

And kids similar to his son? Oh, there’s a lot of them: 60,000 teens, twenty and thirty-somethings (and occasionally some middle-aged, credit-card holding parents) flocked to Las Vegas this past weekend, for ComplexCon. Tickets ranged from $150 to $1,200 for the Cactus Jack V.I.P. tickets that included exclusive merch and a two-night hotel stay.

First held in Long Beach, Calif., in 2016, as an IRL offshoot of the online streetwear authority Complex, ComplexCon has morphed into a youth culture juggernaut. It’s Coachella for kids who can tell you the exact year the first Yeezy Boost came out. It’s ComicCon for people who desire little else than a Chrome Hearts hoodie. It's the Super Bowl of kids describing T-shirts as “hard” or “fye.”

One Complex employee described the event as “streetwear Disneyland.” That isn’t far off. The convention grounds were peppered with town house-size blowup figurines, a cement truck and a carnival hammer game. At one point, members of the Jabbawockeez dance troop were spotted. Later, so was someone in a Sonic the Hedgehog costume.

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At ComplexCon, the Hypebeasts Take Las Vegas

At ComplexCon, the Hypebeasts Take Las Vegas

At ComplexCon, the Hypebeasts Take Las Vegas

At ComplexCon, the Hypebeasts Take Las Vegas

At ComplexCon, the Hypebeasts Take Las Vegas