Sauce Talk: Don’t Sleep On These Drops From ComplexCon 2019

Jason “Cheech” Hall, VICE’s director of merchandise and the driving force behind the Shorty-nominated show, Sauce Talk, is always bluntly honest. That’s why we go to him first for the best recommendations.

Designers, hypebeasts, and resellers converged in Long Beach earlier this month for the winter edition of ComplexCon, the two-day streetwear and culture exhibition meets festival led by designers Pharrell Williams and Takashi Murakami.

Though the event was conspicuously absent of non-collab offerings from Nike and Adidas, VICE’s Cheech Hall scoped out the exhibition booths to find out which drops are worth your time and money—and which ones aren’t.

Murakami x Modernica Chair

Sauce ranking: Hot

“I thought it was amazing,” Cheech said of the chair and accompanying folding table design. “It’s like the ultimate kids’ room, man cave moment.”

Still, he gave it a “hot” sauce ranking purely for comfort reasons: “It’s not really plush, plush. It’s nothing that’s gonna be like, Oh my god, the most comfortable thing I ever own, type of shit.”

Futura Laboratories x Pop Life Johnny art toy

Sauce ranking: Spicy

The alien-esque “Johnny” toy comes in all black with white accents for the figure’s face and hands, making for an excellent addition to any collection organized by color. For those who enjoy their collectibles, Cheech said this toy—exclusive to ComplexCon and capped at 500 models—is one that’s worth investing in.

“It’s always good for people to not to just buy things for the hype,” he said. “A couple years down the line, this little $300 item can be worth five grand and it’s like, Holy shit, this is great.”

Joe Freshgoods L.A. Dodgers hat

Sauce ranking: Elite

“I think everyone should be following anything that that kid does because it’s just spot on,” Cheech said of Joe Freshgoods, who also released an umbrella and a pair of sweats that caught Cheech’s eye.

But it was the designer’s MLB collection L.A. Dodgers hat that sealed the deal for Cheech. “I loved it with a passion,” he said. “The hat was everything that everyone wanted, so it was pretty dope.”

HARD PASS

BBC ICECREAM x Reebok

Sauce ranking: Wack

BBC ICECREAM, Pharrell Williams’s line, collaborated with Reebok to release four different sneakers at ComplexCon. The collection was underwhelming for Cheech, who especially took issue with the BB4600 HI’s silhouette, paired with BBC’s original Diamonds and Dollars design.

“I didn’t appreciate that at all,” he said. “It was just way too much and overbearing.”

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