5 posts tagged "Hood by Air"
Around the World With Hood By Air
By now, it’s been established that New York-based Hood by Air has become a cult favorite. And, considering his smorgasbord of upcoming projects, founder and designer Shayne Oliver has proven that the streetwear line is no fleeting niche sensation. Last weekend, Hood by Air launched Morph—a conceptual pop-up in L.A.’s Scion AV Installation space that marked the brand’s West Coast retail debut. The shop’s Saturday opening—which was attended by diehard HBA fan, and the star of Oliver’s Fall ’13 show, A$AP Rocky—doubled as the launch of an eight-piece made-to-order luggage capsule. Running between $800 to $2,500, the range includes a black leather backpack with clever ball-and-chain detailing and a skeletal fetish-inspired latex hiking bag (left). “It’s subversive luxury luggage,” Oliver told Style.com. “The line has to do with me playing more with the actual realm of luxury. With these bags, I’m confronting that sense head-on and feeling things out for myself.”
The travel accessories are just one facet of Hood by Air’s expansion beyond its signature “ghetto goth” sweatshirts and tees. On June 16, an HBA knitwear capsule will land at Selfridges department store in London. The unveiling of a denim line at New York’s Milk Studios will follow in September. And during the Spring ’14 Paris shows, Oliver will introduce suits and jackets as part of the label’s move into formal menswear. No doubt, big things are happening for the 25-year-old designer, who launched HBA in 2006. But the talent is humbled by his growing fan base’s veritable obsession with the label. “I take it as a nod to what I’m doing,” he said. “I’m just building an aesthetic, and a brand, and a place for myself in fashion. I don’t quite know how to take it, because I’m shy. I just see it as gratitude.”
Hood by Air’s Morph will be open through June 16 at the Scion AV Installation space, 7667 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046.
Shayne Oliver’s Catching Some Air
With his cult clothing line, Hood by Air, Shayne Oliver is redefining and elevating streetwear. And thanks to a recent flurry of celebrity endorsements from the likes of Kanye West, Drake, and A$AP Rocky (a friend of Oliver’s who wore custom HBA pieces as the opening act of Rihanna’s Diamonds tour and also closed the label’s buzzy runway show during New York fashion week), the brand is having a bona fide “fashion moment.”
Last night at the Museum of Arts and Design in Columbus Circle, Oliver sat down with Garmento magazine founder Jeremy Lewis to discuss HBA’s rising star, his approach to design, and his future plans. Oliver explained that he draws inspiration “from the energy of the city itself and looking around at the younger guys who have a sense of urgency in the way they dress. What you see on them is what’s happening right now.” On the topic of his aesthetic, he offered, “There’s a huge sense of luxury in feeling comfortable. It’s breezy. It’s coy. It’s about having on a full cashmere look and feeling like you’re going to the gym. It’s the modern man who can be like, ‘I’m so relaxed and you’re not.’” Continue Reading “Shayne Oliver’s Catching Some Air” »
VFiles Brings Indie Swag to Tokyo
In just under a year, the VFiles store has established itself as the New York destination for hipsters and hip-hop-heads looking to score some streetwear (or, as some might call it, “swag”). A favorite of A$AP Rocky (and the kids who listen to his music), the multibrand boutique on Mercer Street carries independent designers such as Hood By Air, Les Plus Dorés, and Conflict of Interest, as well as its own namesake line. Starting today, Japanese fans of the fashion media site will be able to get their “swag” in person at the VFiles pop-up in Isetan, one of Tokyo’s leading department stores. Open through March 12, the shop will stock specialty pieces from Gerlan Jeans and the VFiles collection, as well as a limited-edition X-Girl camouflage tote bag. VFiles reportedly plans to open up similar retail concept spaces in the future, including an outpost in the Hamptons this summer.
Hood By Air’s Zombie Walk
New York’s own Hood By Air bills itself as “ghetto goth.” That’s a niche market if we’ve ever seen one. But in spite (or perhaps because) of its cult appeal, HBA can certainly draw a crowd. Theophilus London, Nicola Formichetti, and his two Pomeranians, Tank and Bambi, were in the front row at the label’s Fall ’13 show at Milk Studios yesterday afternoon. The theme was techno-tribal-street-zombie—a concept that was magnified by performance artist Boy Child, who would sporadically interrupt the catwalking by creeping through a cloud of smoke and contorting his body into morbid positions.
Designer Shayne Oliver moved away from his usual all-black palette this season with splashes of yellow, blue, and X-ray green. “Before, I enjoyed black because I thought it looked the best,” Oliver told Style.com, “Now I’m learning how to express that darkness without actually doing black.” This collection is also markedly more complex than what we’ve seen on the racks in previous seasons. Sweatshirts are done in oversize neoprene to distort the body, Bermudas are slit open and worn over skinny pants, and zippers transform one garment into something else entirely, like a pair of loose shorts into a kilt. It’s an aesthetic that really appealed to A$AP Rocky, whom Oliver enlisted to close the show. “Growing up in Harlem, hanging out in Soho, I had to deal with the transition between different worlds. Shayne’s stuff is totally something I can get with.” Thanks to A$AP, HBA’s niche might soon get a little bit bigger—Oliver will be dressing the rapper as he opens for Rihanna on her world tour this spring.
Bark!
“Poodles are the new Rottweilers,” blared an email from V‘s Vfiles.com today, which is exclusively selling this poodle top designed by the upstart New York label Hood by Air and recently worn by the cultural barometer that is Rihanna. Those looking for proof that the revolving door of trends swings ever more quickly these days need only recall that as recently as last week, Dobermans were the new Rottweilers .
Hood by Air Poodle combo T-shirt, $198, available at store.vfiles.com.