Day 1 of ComplexCon went down yesterday in Long Beach with a massive turnout of people all wanting a chance to snag exclusive apparel and accessories only made available to purchase at the two-day confab. Typically home to the Agenda trade show at the Long Beach Convention Center, ComplexCon corralled the cash-and-card ready Millenial crowd of streetwear collectors and buyers into one space for a jam packed mecca of fashion retailer exhibits (like Nike, Adidas, Puma, VFILES, Mitchel & Ness, etc.) along with an impressive art exhibitor section reminiscent of Miami Art Basel.

Notable highlights from ComplexCon’s first day included a a special unveiling with Pharrell Williams of his new collection he designed with G-Star Raw (as its new co-owner) as well as curated Complex ‘ConVersations’ speaker panels. In one panel offering UNION co-owner Chris Gibbs along with Bobby “Hundreds” Kim of The Hundreds, Vashtie, and select others discussed the direction of streetwear from their standpoints.

Leslie and myself were each given special numbered gold cards to view an invite only Jordan Brand exhibit cornered off in the lobby of ComplexCon for a rare look at Jordan Brand archival pieces – some that have never before been seen by the public including sketches, designs, and early coveted Jordan sneakers ranging from 1985 that until yesterday were kept locked in a vault at its headquarters in Portland. The early Jordan silhouettes were paired with rare tracksuits, tees, and basketball shorts that either were worn by Michael Jordan himself or early Jordan Brand employees close to the iconic sports star.

On the Pigeons & Planes stage, we watched our friend Julian Bell playing onstage with St. Louis artist Smino. Around the corner, we stopped by the Just Don and Nice Kicks X Team Cozy booths and also popped into the VLONE merch booth where they debuted the Nike X VLONE AF1 sneakers and limited edition long sleeve tees only made available at ComplexCon in the signature orange and black colorway. One off pieces were available as well like Cozy Boys robes, A$AP Worldwide ashtrays, coach jackets, and tees next to more merchandise from A$AP Rocky’s GUESS collection.

Other brand activations and artist spaces we enjoyed viewing included Edison Chen’s CLOT (as well as his galleria 3125C with art pieces by Devon Troy Strother among others); Australian artist couple DABS MYLA and their larger-than-life three dimensional artworks in collaboration with Modernica; BAPE’s almost ceiling high center exhibit featuring a purple camo lamborghini with Travis Scott made exclusively for ComplexCon; $1 vending machines at the MagPark booth…But the gold Jordan Brand card and invite only exhibit stills reigns supreme.