YO!
Another year of Complex Con has come and gone and we thought we would recap the good, the bad and the ugly. But first we wanted take a moment to review just what our manifesto for Union's involvement with Complex Con is...
When I first moved to NYC back in 94 I was what I like to call dirty skate kid. I wore regular (whatever) t-shirts and jeans...not really into fashion. One day I discovered Union...I walked in and I saw all these tee's and gear that had messages (not just the branded banners I had become accustom to). And the messages spoke not only to me but for me. Brands like PNB and Elements of Style... It opened my eyes up to a whole new world of fashion that seemed to be made "for us, by us" that I had not experienced before. This was a major chapter in my journey to having knowledge of self.
Fast forward to today and I want Union to be that for our younger generation. I want the youth to know that there is a pluralistic view of streetwear and I want them to understand what we represent in this world. So last year and this year again we decided to be a part of Complex Con in order to bring the "Union" message to the Yout Dem.
Our idea was simple. Create an art gallery where each of the brands that we collaborated with were able to make an Object of Art that represented our colab. After reviewing the art, the customer if so inclined could exit through the gift shop and purchase a keepsake from the show.
That was the plan, but we way underestimated the demand, hype and popularity of the show and we got BUMRUSHED!!!
So to those of you who weren't able to experience our booth, we apologize. We will try to do better next year.
Chris Union
...and now our recap.
Day 1, this is the scene as we were about to open. This is the Bumrush I was talking about...
The Rhude fellas dropped by the booth to see their cigarette but sculpture.
Jordan Brand's 85 Hustle Gold wrapped BMW to represent the early days of Nike when Phil Knight was selling shoes out the trunk of his car...juxtaposed with the hood culture of selling mix tapes and the like out the trunk of our whips...
This is the mobile we made to represent the Dr. Woo x John Elliott colab we did...we adorned the mobile with all of Woo's inspirational keepsakes...
For the Noah x Union offering we wanted to speak out against the Alt Right movement happening here in the US. So we referenced some 80's UK anti Nazi/anti Fascist movements and built a wheat pasted wall.
We had our good friends at Bloom and Plume make a topiary U for us which came out insane!!
Awake wanted to reference the 125th Street incense and oil vendors, we we treated that as a work of art.
...our boys at 000 built a day room from their time of being locked up. We had complimentary jailhouse tattooing on site!
On the left we have the Fear of God corner from our booth, made to represent youth angst of the 80's/90's and the den vibe of Jerry's upbringing. On the right is a shot from the "Drop Science" panel that Jerry and I were on.
I moderated a couple talks there...this photo of Karizza and I is taken from the "drop science" talk where we discussed the art of the drop in streetwear.
Too many friends and family dropped by the booth to support...thanks to you all. But I had to post this one of me and GhostFace!!!!
...once again, thanks to all who came out to support and our deepest apologies to those who couldn't get through the crowds...we promise to do a better job managing the crowds next time.
One
Chris
