BAPE × aespa

“BAPE® x aespa COMING SOON…” was built to arrive from three places at once. The campaign plan put Complex, BAPE, and aespa channels on the same hour: 9 AM in Los Angeles, noon in New York, 1 AM the next day in Seoul.

The challenge was getting three teams across three time zones to post together and send shoppers to one place: the aespa page on Complex Shop. A publisher, a streetwear label, and a K-pop group each had their own audience and feeds. As I remember it, everything went to plan; the times and moments here are the ones the campaign plan set.

The press embargo held the reveal until July 28. Until then, the tease could only say that something was coming. When it lifted, the announcement arrived with the date attached: “Introducing BAPE® x aespa. Get ready, get cæmoed up! Available August 1 9 AM PST / 12 PM EST on Complex.com.”

The embargo turned the reveal into one public moment that every channel could hit together, and Complex.com placements carried it across the site. The online release was four days away.

Between the reveal and the release, the artists carried the campaign: an in-feed post on aespa’s official account, merch selfies, a signed-postcard promotion that depended on the group’s availability, and a selfie video across artist and brand channels.

The selfie caption set the tone: “Live in the æ-vibe with aespa and BABY MILO®.” For those four days, the collaboration appeared in aespa’s own posts and videos.

The online launch was set for August 1 at 9 AM Pacific. The collection was set to go live at Complex and BAPE, in BAPE’s US stores, and at the Chicago store: BABY MILO® tees and hoodies, “available now on Complex.com.”

I ran Complex’s online launch and aligned the marketing to it, so that when the channels turned from “coming soon” to “available now,” the release they pointed to was ready. The launch email and landing-page creative shown here is placeholder art: it shows the intended treatment, not what was sent or published.

The same weekend, the campaign went physical in Chicago: an aespa pop-up, the BAPE Chicago store launch, street appearances, and a Lollapalooza performance on August 2.

That side belonged to the wider campaign and the talent teams, not to my online role.

After launch weekend, the campaign was set to keep going: a Chicago store recap, a second artist post, and on August 4 a collection lookbook, “Closer look into the BAPE® x aespa collection.” The release was meant to outlast its first morning.

Looking back from September 2026, what stands out is how much coordination it took to get everyone ready for the same release. Complex, BAPE, and aespa each had their own channels and schedules, but their posts had to go live at the same time and point shoppers to the release. My job was to get Complex's online launch and marketing ready.