Complex is a young men's style/lifestyle magazine founded by Marc Ecko

Marc Ecko

Marc Eckō is an American fashion designer, entrepreneur, investor, artist, and philanthropist. He is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Marc Eckō Enterprises, a billion-dollar global fashion and lifestyle company...

 and Hugh McFall in 2002. The publication offers mainstream readers insight into the latest trends in niche cultures, such as streetwear, sneaker culture, hip hop, and graphic art. Complex has a circulation of approximately 500,000 and targets men that are college-aged to early 30s in urban/metropolitan areas.

One of the magazine's unique attributes is that each issue features a different cover on each side (one male, one female), creating two distinct sections. The half of the magazine that follows the male celebrity cover (e.g., Kanye West

Kanye West

Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...

, Seth Rogen

Seth Rogen

Seth Rogen is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, and voice artist. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy during his teen years, winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a small part in Freaks and...

, Pharrell, Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bean Bryant is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school...

, James Franco

James Franco

James Edward Franco is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author, painter, performance artist and instructor at New York University. He left college in order to pursue acting and started off his career by making guest appearances on television series in the 1990s...

) is geared toward lifestyles, the latest films, music, and other forms of media. The half of the magazine that follows the female celebrity cover (e.g., Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba

Jessica Marie Alba is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack . Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel...

, M.I.A.

M.I.A. (artist)

Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam , better known by her stage name M.I.A. , is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music. M.I.A...

, Cassie, Rosario Dawson

Rosario Dawson

Rosario Isabel Dawson is an American actress, singer, and writer. She has appeared in films such as Kids, Men in Black II, 25th Hour, Sin City, Clerks II, Rent, Death Proof, The Rundown, Eagle Eye, Alexander, Seven Pounds, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Unstoppable.-Early...

, Olivia Munn

Olivia Munn

Lisa Olivia Munn is an American comedic actress, model, television personality and author. She began her career being credited as Lisa Munn. Since 2006, she has been using the name Olivia Munn personally and professionally....

, Gwen Stefani

Gwen Stefani

Gwen Renée Stefani is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani is the lead vocalist for the rock and ska band No Doubt. Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was inspired by music of the 1980s, and was a success with sales of over...

, Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis

Milena "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Her work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on the TV series That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy...

) is dubbed "The Guide" and offers a Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports is an American magazine published monthly by Consumers Union since 1936. It publishes reviews and comparisons of consumer products and services based on reporting and results from its in-house testing laboratory. It also publishes cleaning and general buying guides...

-esque breakdown of the latest consumer items, technology, sneakers, and apparel.

It is known as "The Original Buyer's Guide for Men" because it was the first magazine in the men's market to emulate the shopping guide formula of Lucky

Lucky (magazine)

Lucky is a shopping and style magazine which calls itself the " Ultimate Shopping Guide " and " The Magazine About Shopping ." Lucky "showcases what to wear and how to wear it, making fashion and beauty fun and accessible." Available by subscription, issues are published once a month and offer...

and the Japanese magazines on which that magazine was modeled.

Two years after its launch, big publishing houses like Condé Nast attempted similar titles, like Cargo, Sync, and VITALS, all of which folded within two years of launch.

In 2007, the Complex Media Network was launched, bringing several sites around the web under the Complex umbrella. These include Juxtapoz.com, Nahright.com, NiceKicks.com, Consequence of Sound

Consequence of Sound

Consequence of Sound, also known often as CoS, is a Chicago-based music website featuring news, album and concert reviews, and editorials. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook micro-site, which serves as an on-line database for music festival news and rumors...

, and many others. The sites of the Complex Media Network generate upwards of 50 million unique visitors per month.

In 2009, Complex Media spun off from Mark Ecko Enterprises to become an independent company.

Complex is noted for having discovered the location of OFWGKTA

OFWGKTA

Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, often abbreviated OFWGKTA and also known simply as Odd Future or Golf Wang, is an alternative hip hop collective from Los Angeles, California...

 member Earl Sweatshirt

Earl Sweatshirt

Thebe Kgositsile , better known by his stage name Earl Sweatshirt, is an American rapper and member of the Los Angeles hip hop collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All.-Biography:...

, in reform school

Reform school

A reform school in the United States was a term used to define, often somewhat euphemistically, what was often essentially a penal institution for boys, generally teenagers.-History:...

 in the American Samoa

American Samoa

American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...

in 2011.