The Best Outfits at Day One of ComplexCon 2022
ComplexCon 2022 attendees came dressed in their finest wares while attending the two-day festival hosted by Verdy. Here are the best outfits from day one.
Image via Julian Berman
As usual, attendees came out in their very best outfits when attending ComplexCon this year. Naturally, the first ComplexCon to ever be hosted by Verdy attracted a crowd of fashion enthusiasts who were ready to buy drops from Japanese labels like Undercover, Human Made, Girls Don’t Cry, and more. While panels featuring Clipse and Jim Jones temporarily kept attendees off the shopping floor, there were plenty of exciting moments going on at various booths throughout the event. Vince Staples made a surprise appearance at Superplastic. Vandy The Pink built his own fast food restaurant to sell merch. And Awake NY invited Earsnot of the IRAK crew to paint their entire booth.
Of course, we had to stop some of the most stylish ComplexCon attendees to break down their outfits for us. Here, they detail what they wore and share their thoughts about the first half of ComplexCon 2022.
Sean Wotherspoon
Age: 32
Hometown: Richmond, Virginia
Occupation: Founder of Round Two New York; Designer and Creative Director.
So why did you want to come to ComplexCon with LRG?
This collab meant a lot to us because LRG played a huge part in my childhood. We wanted to put on the biggest stage we could for streetwear. So, ComplexCon was that vehicle for us and it worked out great.
Did you buy anything today?
I got the Sevensevenseven magazine from John [Ross] and Kevin Moon, I got the All Gone [x Paper Boy Paris] Reeboks from Michael [Dupouy], and that’s about it.
Why’d you cop those?
It’s my friends stuff so I support the homies.
What’s been your favorite moment so far just being here today?
Just connecting with friends really. I don’t really make it out of my house or business much. So, it’s nice to see friends like Julian and things like that, where we don’t cross paths every day.
Break down your fit and what you’re wearing.
I’m wearing an unreleased sample of some Adidas I’m working on that are coming out next year. I’m wearing these baggy Round 2 x LRG pants, a vintage Public Enemy shirt, these Goros accessories, and some bracelets my friend in Bangkok makes. Some Ambush and some Baby Milo trinkets. And this [handpainted] Rammellzee [hat by] Supreme.
That hat’s insane.
Another thing you’d appreciate is that I have the backpack too. No one’s got that shit.
Out of everything you’re wearing, what was the hardest to get?
It’s hard to say because I didn’t really try for any of these. I came across them very luckily and easily. If I needed to buy one again, the hat would be the hardest to replace. I’ve seen a couple of these, but I don’t think I’ve seen another one of these in the red. So surely that one.
Lennard Macaranas
Age: 36
Hometown: Delano, California
Occupation: Founder of TrashmanGrn
Why did you want to come to ComplexCon this year?
I always feel like it’s a good setting to just do something creative. Literally, this isn’t a money thing. It’s about doing something cool because anyone can get clothes and sell it. But creatively, I want to do something where it’s an experience. To me, it’s more of an art thing. This is technically a fake brand. It’s not real. The only place to get it is ComplexCon or when I just feel the need to do something. You can’t get it online or anywhere else.
What did you pickup from ComplexCon today?
The folks at the Harley Davidson x Neighborhood gave me a hat. The one I’m wearing is a vintage one.
What do you love about their Harley Davidson merch?
You’re just bridging two cool things. You got Harley Davidson and Neighborhood, which is a brand that’s based off a lot of old motorcycle stuff. I’m also a big fan of Harley because I curate and supply all their vintage.
Is there a huge demand for vintage Harley?
I mean vintage it’s back and it’s been back. But when it comes to doing it right, I feel like Harley has probably one of the biggest archives. Some people wear like it’s a rock tee.
Tell me about your jacket.
It’s all scraps or trash. Our whole brand is based off recycling and repurposing everything. Even little ends of things, I reuse all the scraps. This is scraps literally made from blankets that I had made from other jackets that I made into a blanket and then made it into a jacket my size.
Is this your favorite item you’re wearing?
Well I didn’t bring it with me, but it’s actually an M65 fishtail parka that I made from a water damaged flight jacket. It’s my favorite piece because there’s no way for me to remake it or redo the dye. I can’t get it. That’s my favorite piece because I can’t remake it.
What your favorite moment here?
I think the Ezze Pawn shop because it’s just a mix of 30 brands and they’re all hidden but doing crazy stuff. Not many people know who they are. So, that’s one of my favorite things because it’s just a bunch of cool brands.
Spencer Badu
Age: 28
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
Occupation: Founder of Spencer Badu
What’s your favorite part about being one of the Brands to Watch booths here?
The best part of being one of these Brands to Watch, it’s really just meeting all these people who are curious about who we are and what we’re doing.
Are you looking to buy anything here today?
I haven’t brought anything yet, but I’m looking to buy something from Sean Brown, a carpet or something.
Did you eat anything here today?
I went to the food truck station. The lines were kind of long so I’ve just been having these little pizza pies at the convention center.
Can you break down the fit you’re wearing right now?
I’m wearing Spencer Badu Drop Waist Cargo Pants in green from my tenth collection. I have an upcycled jersey with shoulder pads from my ninth collection. Then, some all-black Salomon sneakers.
Tell me more about that jersey, what was it inspired by?
Everything we do is a “Youniform” and based on the idea of uniforms. We took a traditional hockey jersey and we re-contextualized it to be more or less like a football jersey. It’s about taking one sport and recontextualizing it for another sport. It’s also upcycled. We didn’t use any new fabrics to make this. We basically used everything from the previous jersey and added some shoulder pads to it for some exaggeration.
Antoine Manning
Age: 23
Hometown: Bronx, New York
Occupation: Founder of Homage Year
Why did you want to come to ComplexCon?
I wanted to come here because I felt like it was a good opportunity to show a different audience what we have to offer and a different sense of human style. We’re a socio-political brand so we make things with meaning and intention. While it looks cool, it means something spiritually too. That was our goal with that and I think we did a pretty good job.
Did you buy anything at ComplexCon?
I didn’t even get to leave the booth yet, but I want to get something from BBC and I want to get something from Willy Chavarria.
What do you love about Willy Chavarria, who’s also based in NYC?
Well, I know Willy because I used to intern at Yeezy and he was working above me.
What’s been your favorite moment so far being here?
It’s meeting so many different people who have knowledge of the brand. It has been really encouraging to see people supporting us and complimenting the booth. The opportunity to be here is a blessing as one of the Brands to Watch.
What are you wearing right now?
Maison Margiela sneakers, Maison Margiela pants, and a regular thermal T- shirt. I love the simplicity of Margiela and how he reinvented commonly used items to be high fashion. It’s the tastefulness, the minimalism, and the reinvention.
Zee Bernardo
Age: 50s
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Occupation: Founder of Seulement Los Angeles
What are you doing at ComplexCon?
I make this stuff for Seulement Los Angeles. Seulement means “only” in French. What I do is basically give a second life to vintage fabrics and rework vintage because there’s a lot of things that everyone throws away. So with this brand, I decided a long time ago to stop making new clothes and contribute to saving the planet. I just remake whatever I can find in LA, whether it’s fabric, military garments, or whatever I can get my hands on. The only spot that I sell my clothes is at the Rose Bowl and I do it once a month. I don’t do social media. My experiment is to just make good stuff and find out if there’s someone out there willing to buy it. They’re usually only expecting to find $20 pants at Rose Bowl. That’s basically the experiment I started eight years ago and it still works for me today.
That explains your price point.
When I bring my stuff and they find out that the jacket is $1,200 or $600, it’s because I work this from the inside out. I don’t make clothes where the sewing inside is scrappy. I basically start from the inside. If I cannot make it look good on the inside, I don’t make it. I have this feeling that someone will really love how you make and take care of something. If you give a garment a [great] second life they will not throw it away again. That’s how I made my business.
Why did you want to bring these garments here?
A friend of mine, Leonard, curated this whole thing.
Tell me a little bit about what you’re wearing?
This jacket was made from seven workwear shirts that were cut into six and a half inch pieces of fabric to make a patchwork chore jacket. It’s also lined with patchwork. I even made it with vintage RiRi zippers. The only logo you’ll find on this is on the back of that [zipper]. I made this shirt I’m wearing from a US Navy pattern from World War II. These are 1950s work pants. It’s just how I make stuff.
You made the hat too?
Yeah, I made this hat from a vintage canvas and overdyed it green. I overdye, run and buy stuff, and pick the fabrics personally every time. That’s how it is with me. I’m very happy doing it because you’ll find out that there’s a lot of people who really want to wear something that is only one of one.
And then the Birkenstocks.
Everybody’s wearing sneakers and I love to be very different because being different is what helped me do this business. I want to do a look that’s not so loud but enough to basically make somebody go, “Oh, what is that?”
Are you wearing a Goros necklace?
Nope, this is all Native American.
The original.
Yes, this is coming from 20 years of collecting.
Where’d you find that?
New Mexico or Arizona. This is Native American. Someone’s mom was making it and selling it for like $20 each before. Now it’s like $10,000. [laughs]
Edgar Gonzelaz
Age: 27
Hometown: Rio Grande Valley, Texas
Occupation: Founder of Andafterthat
Did you buy anything at ComplexCon today?
I bought my girl some things. I’m looking forward to trying to get blue Salehe Crocs. I also brought a sign from Virgil Normal.
What’s been your favorite moment so far as one of our Brands to Watch?
It’s getting to interact with people who have followed me for years and finally putting a face to my name. Just interacting on a more human level rather than just Instagram DMs.
Did you get a chance to check out the food here yet?
Yeah, we were at the Pizza Wars stand and the food was delicious. We had the fried chicken pizza and the pepperoni.
Tell me about your fit right now.
I’m wearing “Neon” Air Max 95s, Uniqlo pleated trousers, a Uniqlo U T-shirt, and a Comme des Garçons x Stüssy work jacket.
How you feel about what they’ve been doing now?
Everything I am, I owe to Stüssy. That’s been my favorite brand since I was 14 years old.
Sebastian Moraga and Roe Hodgson
Age: 26, 25
Hometown: Washington D.C. and Berkley, California
Occupation: Founders of No Maintenance
How you feeling about being one of ComplexCon’s Brands to Watch today?
Sebastian Moraga: We wanted to pop out in our city and I feel like we don’t ever really do that often because we’re pretty reclusive and private. It took a little guiding hand to make us step out.
Roe Hodgson: This is our first public event in LA. We did one in New York for New York Fashion Week, but this is our first event we’ve really ever hosted in LA. We wanted to have a big pop-up for our first event here.
Did you two buy anything today?
SM: No, we didn’t buy anything but we got gifted a couple hats today. We’re pretty picky, but I’m always shopping. The SSENSE cart is booming always for stuff that we don’t make. But there’s a couple gifts from other booths and friends today. I’m really excited about the food. There’re a lot of food vendors and I want to eat multiple times. I know that’s an unconventional answer, but I’m kind of down for that. Like, we’re still minimalist. I’ll tell you one thing, we get so many things that we recycle out of our lives. We don’t own that much.
RH: We kind of adhere strictly into our own world. Even though it’s interesting to see what everyone’s selling, at the end of the day, you’ll probably just find us wearing a No Maintenance sample, some true vintage, or maybe a couple contemporary things like Sebastian said—stuff that we are just not making ourselves but we’re like dying to have.
What’s been your favorite part of being a part of Brands To Watch today?
SM: It’s definitely being juxtaposed with some of our contemporaries and also just putting our face in the same conversation with a lot of people that we’ve worked really hard to be in the same conversation with. We’ve only been making clothing for less than two years now. It’s definitely cool to have this quick come up and also have it be a part of the ComplexCon narrative. It’s a good conversation starter. There’s a lot of people we respect who have been in the building today. It’s nice to have NBA players come in and just randomly buy something on a whim. Everyone from major industry buyers to smaller scale creatives that we’ve been buying from and respecting for five or six years now.
Break down your fits for me.
SM: We were just saying, when we’re not wearing our brand or vintage, we’re pretty particular about what we buy. I’ve only been buying things that we haven’t really made. One of my favorite brands right now is a small Danish brand called mfpen. So I’m wearing an mfpen blazer. I’m wearing a Jacquemus T-shirt because I haven’t been able to wash my more basic tees, some Carson Wach denim, and Bottega Veneta Derbys.
RH: Top down, I got some Margiela Nikita sunglasses from a couple years ago, a No Maintenance sample hoodie that we’re working on right now—a collegiate crewneck we are going to release soon—a Black Means belt from a couple years ago with the studs, and then this other local Los Angeles brand Homeboy Co. They’ve been around since like 2013. This is 12-pocket, raw selvedge, boot cut denim. On feet, I originally had Alyx boots on all morning but swapped them out for some Birkenstock Bostons for comfort.
"Joe" From BBC
Age: Declined
Hometown: Sydney, Australia
Occupation: Creative Director of Billionaire Boys Club
Did you happen to buy anything on the floor here today?
No.
Is there anything you’re looking forward to buy?
You have the wrong person bro. Coca-Cola. Well, I actually really wanted to buy the Last Orgy 2 varsity jacket made by [Verdy, Undercover,] and Human Made. But it was too expensive.
Can you break down your fit for me?
I got 1950s USMC HBT military pants, ACG Mountain Flys, and the BBC x Human Made T-shirt in black, which is a special for this year. I got a 1980s Canadian flannel shirt that’s super fucked up. And then I got on a RRL beanie.