New York-based label Hood by Air, also referred to as HBA, is making its return as a label exclusively carried by Montreal-based boutique Ssense. The frequently copied, trend-setting label will be lead by Shanyne Oliver, who founded the label in 2006. Ssense hasn’t provided timing for the debut collection.
In an interview with Ssense, Oliver said while HBA will return, abiding by the dictates of seasonal fashion week presentations isn’t a priority. Oliver explained, “Fashion schedules are ridiculous! And fashion weeks, at this point, are no longer for the people that need them. You look at younger designers, and they get overshadowed by people that garner the most success from fashion weeks but don’t actually need it. Larger houses don’t need them, yet they are the only ones who can get what they need from doing them.
“Through runways, these younger kids essentially just become mood boards for bigger corporations who have the capability to push out [their] ideas at a faster, more commercial, more developed rate. I don’t feel the need to be in that conversation. I want to remove the brand from the conversation of just fashion in general, and allow it to exist outside of the fashion system, so people can really see I am not trying to prove anything or create a vocabulary for the fashion world.”
Oliver announced he was putting Hood by Air on hiatus in April 2017. Subsequently he partnered with Diesel on a Red Label capsule and was also a Helmut Lang editor in residence for the brand’s spring 2018 collection.
Image via Paulo Sutch for Ssense.
