Digital Social Hour
Joshua Vides: AI Changed Fashion Faster Than Anyone Expected | DSH #1709
26 Dec 2025
Chapter 1: How did fear during COVID change the fashion industry?
I'm shocked there's brands I'm walking past and I'm like damn this product looks pretty solid I'll be like yo how long you been doing the brand oh a year and I'm like you're making cut and sew shorts with flames and like leather how did you and they're like oh it's just there's so much access now like information and even with AI right like assisting designers I'm like it took me a year when I was 19 years old to figure out how to print a t-shirt
All right, guys, day two at Complex Con. We got Joshua here. It's been quite an event, man. Good to see you.
Chapter 2: What personal battles did the guest face in his 20s?
I saw your booth on the air. What was the any special release for you at this event?
no i mean honestly like like i was just saying like for for me it's just kind of like coming and showing up and like shaking hands and like being homies and obviously for people that haven't seen my work to get familiar with and go oh what's this right it's really just like sparking a conversation um you know and yes we've obviously brought some product to sell but it's like you know i got pins at my booth that are like 10 bucks you know so if you were coming by me and like i don't think anything else at the entire show is ten dollars i'm like cool take
Chapter 3: How does spiritual warfare manifest in daily life?
I did notice that when I walked by, it didn't seem like you were displaying merch or trying to sell everything.
No, I mean, it's again, like fortunately I'm in a position where it's like, I can put up my own money to kind of do this and like not really think about a return. You know, it's like more so allowing people to see the work, get familiar with it. And obviously like have larger conversations. Like, honestly, I had a conversation yesterday that pays for like five of these boots. Wow.
So I'm like, cool.
Chapter 4: Why is community crucial for mental health?
Let's keep talking. You know, we'll meet in a week or whatever. And it has to do with like a brand or a collaboration or whatever.
Chapter 5: What role does identity play in overcoming insecurity?
You know, it's like, cool. It was worth coming to ComplexCon, if that makes sense.
No, that's why I show face at all sorts of events because you never know what conversation is going to lead to what. Yeah. And I film at as many events as I can because you never know who you'll meet. Exactly. Any major collabs this year that you did?
This year, in summer, we teamed up with Fanatics and did a Yankees and Mets. Nice. New York-specific collection with them. And then, honestly, just ramping up for the end of the year, we got some big hitters coming and then even falling into next year. Were you at Fanatics Fest?
Chapter 6: How has AI influenced the fashion design process?
I did get to go, which was crazy. And, like, they didn't even tell me that I was going to have, like, a build-out there. Yeah. And, like, I show up and I had, like, a...
this like massive build up with my name on it i was like oh shit this is cool so i rarely get fomo like yeah usually when i don't go somewhere i'm chill with it but seeing all the photos and videos from that event yeah i was like wow i'm going next that was great it was great yeah shout out to ruben and fanatics i mean they're kind of changing the sports entertainment industry right i love what he's doing with the trading cards i don't know if you collect cards but
A little bit. Um, but I just think the energy behind fanatics is, is crazy. And it's like, it's just, they, they're in touch with culture outside of sports and they're able to like mix it together. And so now people who like, maybe not know who Tati is or is batting average are now like, Oh, well they worked with this really cool artist to make this Dodger hat.
I know the artist and I'm going to go support. And so now they're kind of just like mixing everything together, which is really fun.
Yeah, for sure. How do you feel about the sneaker industry right now? I know there's a lot of interesting headlines to say the least about it.
I mean, I think everybody is in a very unique moment right now. It's just like everyone's hanging on to their money tighter. And so, you know, you're seeing crazy headline news like Nike's down 40 or whatever. They just fired 3000. You know, it's happening across the board to every brand.
Um, and so I think right now is a really, a really good moment for up and comers, you know, even like my buddy, so like he was launching his own footwear company, like right now is a great time because like, yeah, people have enough Jordans, they have enough shell toes, you know?
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Chapter 7: What challenges are young designers facing today?
That else is there. And so, you know, even like J Tips and Ciccone. Ciccone wasn't cool 10 years ago. It's like they're selling out Ciccone's because they're working with J Tips, you know. So I think it's a really good moment right now for like, you know, the lesser known brands to kind of like makes a movement and try to catch up to the big dogs.
Yeah. A few big sneaker stores in Vegas closed recently. It's like the reseller market's really hurting right now, too.
That, too. It's just like, you know. I think COVID was a really crazy moment just for commerce and markets. Everybody was making way too much money. Yeah. Everybody was spending way too much money and everybody got a little hungry. And now it's like we're seeing the downside of it, whereas like, oh, wait, why did I buy 20 pairs of shoes during COVID? Maybe I can try to sell them now.
And if you multiply that by millions and millions of people.
every market is just overly saturated right so now it's like oh the one shoe that was 20 grand well now there's 5 000 other guys who got the same pair that are also trying to sell that shoe it's not 20 000 anymore now it's like 200 bucks and people are like what the is going on right yeah so yeah it's it's it's just crazy you know for me fortunately i don't buy a lot of clothes or like i don't really care yeah you're not a big collector or anything
Not in sneakers, you know, and honestly, fortunately, I get gifted a lot of stuff. So it's like I don't really ever have to go do something.
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Chapter 8: What future trends should we expect in fashion and mental health?
But yeah, you know, it's a baseball card, team baseball cards go down that I invested in a couple of years ago and I got wrecked on cards, you know, wrecks like down 80, 90 percent. Yeah. But it's like NFTs, right? They came, they went. If you were in early, you fucking came up, you know? And now it's like, what's an NFT, you know?
I bet you got hit with so many NFT offers during the peak days.
Yeah. And what's funny is like, I look back, I wish I would have done it. But at the time I would just, I didn't understand it. And you would have made millions. It was, it was happening so fast and people were coming to me like, let's do NFC. And I was just like, I don't even know what this is. Is it damaging the earth? Like what's happening.
And by the time I was like, finally like, all right, maybe I can do this. I have an idea. It was like, yeah, I was like, oh, well there goes that, you know? So yeah.
I will say some artists also effed up their reputation launching NFTs.
Definitely there's some people who like just didn't do it right, you know, or over promise something. And now it's like, you know, it kind of seemed really scammy. So fortunately, yeah, I didn't get thrown into that mix.
Is there a specific lane you're aiming for in 26? Any specific product or ideas you got?
No, I mean, I'm in a really good spot right now where, again, just being aware of, like, the world, man. And, like, I'm talking to so many people, even here, so many people, and they're like, dude, this year sucks. Really? Oh, my God. This is my second one, so I don't know what to compare it to. No, no, no, not the show. I'm just saying, like, business. Oh, okay. You know, like, a lot of...
A lot of streetwear is housed on the backs of retail. Right. And retail is taking a huge shit right now. Yeah. Stores are closing left and right. People don't want to pay their bills. And that affects every streetwear brand tremendously because they were selling to that store. They were hoping to get this much to be able to invest into the other things, whatever.
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