Welcome Family Style Food Festival to the growing Complex family.
Thursday, Complex announced its acquisition of the popular food-meets-streetwear festival, which will now be expanded into a media platform. In a statement, Aaron Levant, Complex CEO, reflected on having watched Family Style become "the leading festival" in its space over the years.
"The festival aligns perfectly with our mission to redefine the way fans interact with their favorite chefs, brands, and artists," Levant said, adding that the newly announced acquisition will enable Family Style to reach "new heights."
The Family Style journey began with its founding in 2019 by Ben Shenassafar and Bobby Kim of The Hundreds alongside Miles Canares. In the five years since, Family Style has carved out an undeniably attractive status among festivals as the go-to destination for exciting collaborations including past pairings like Jon & Vinny’s with Off-White, Mother Wolf with Tommy Hilfiger, and more. Additionally, Family Style has collaborated with brands and artists like Takashi Murakami, Verdy, Shake Shack, Howlin Rays, Boia De, Pokémon, James Jean, KidSuper, Billionaire Boys Club, Mister Cartoon, Awake NY, and more.
"I've long admired Complex and its acute understanding and reflection of our cultural zeitgeist," Shenassafar said of the acquisition. "Over the past five years, our team has poured their hearts into building the Family Style brand. Our communities have trusted us to provide the very best food and culture experiences. With the support of Complex, we're excited to further expand Family Style into a media platform, becoming the definitive voice for all things food and culture. We’re looking forward to continuing to grow Family Style into the largest food festival in the world."
Canares added, "We're extremely proud of what we've built at Family Style, and this partnership with Complex helps us reach heights that we've only dreamed of previously. Complex has played such a big role for me growing up as a fan of fashion, music, and art and being welcomed to the family in this way means so much."
So, what’s next for Family Style Food Festival and Complex? For starters, fans can look forward to a new food-focused vertical that aims to become a leader in the space not unlike how Family Style and Complex have accomplished at an individual level. The festival will also be “significantly” expanded in Los Angeles, as well as the subject of a first-ever pop-up as part of the ComplexCon 2024 lineup in Las Vegas later this year.
