Shayne Oliver
Designer, Hood by Air
The designer of one of New York's buzziest cult labels is making a comeback after a two-year hiatus to Helmut Lang.
Minnesota-born Shayne Oliver is the founder of New York City-based label Hood By Air. He put his brand on hold to focus on a special collection for Helmut Lang, which debuted in September 2017 but announced in February 2019 that the brand would return within a few months. Raised in Trinidad and Brooklyn, he started his cult menswear label in 2006, making sweatshirts and T-shirts for his friends after dropping out of both New York University and Fashion Institute of Technology .
Since then, Oliver has been perfecting a look of his own, incorporating 90s staples like oversized tees, bold logos and graphics, with super premium materials and progressive silhouettes. With its bold 1990s-style graphics, striking silhouettes and high-fashion elements borrowed from the playbooks of Raf Simons and Helmut Lang, Hood By Air has managed to capture the energy of today’s mashed-up youth culture while upending traditional concepts of power, race and gender with a look that is both sensual and tough, androgynous and masculine.
The streetwear thread that runs through his clothes, including the shirts that pun on glamour and cultural obsessions (for Spring/Summer 2012, he created a line of tees that played on the Paramount logo) are favourites at boutiques such as Colette and Opening Ceremony, and include supporters like Kanye West, Rihanna, Ciara, Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky — with the latter closing his FW13 show.
Famous for its “HBA” logo, Hood By Air won the CFDA’s Swarovski Award for Menswear and received international recognition when the brand was awarded special prize winner of the inaugural LVMH Prize in 2014.
Career History
VITAL STATISTICS
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Jean Paul Gaultier to Collaborate With Shayne Oliver
The Hood By Air co-founder’s ready-to-wear capsule for the Paris-based perfume and fashion house will be timed to coincide with the Met Gala in New York.
Jean Paul Gaultier to Collaborate With Shayne Oliver
The Hood By Air co-founder’s ready-to-wear capsule for the Paris-based perfume and fashion house will be timed to coincide with the Met Gala in New York.
Shayne Oliver Exits Design Duties at Hood By Air, Forms New ‘Corporation’
The creative often credited with pioneering luxury streetwear has stepped away from design duties at the brand he founded. From his new base in Berlin, Oliver is now focused on a constellation of projects under the nascent Shayne Oliver Group.
Shayne Oliver Exits Design Duties at Hood By Air, Forms New ‘Corporation’
The creative often credited with pioneering luxury streetwear has stepped away from design duties at the brand he founded. From his new base in Berlin, Oliver is now focused on a constellation of projects under the nascent Shayne Oliver Group.
Can Shayne Oliver’s HBA Pull Off a Second Coming?
Hood By Air is back with business partner Edison Chen and a strategy that’s more focused on streetwear and direct-to-consumer distribution.
Can Shayne Oliver’s HBA Pull Off a Second Coming?
Hood By Air is back with business partner Edison Chen and a strategy that’s more focused on streetwear and direct-to-consumer distribution.
Can Diesel Be Cool Again?
With a new CEO and strategic plan, the original ‘designer denim’ label is serious about making a comeback. But can it modernise its approach while staying true to its history?
Can Diesel Be Cool Again?
With a new CEO and strategic plan, the original ‘designer denim’ label is serious about making a comeback. But can it modernise its approach while staying true to its history?
What Happened to Rethinking the Fashion System?
For brands big and small, there is real value in rethinking the industry’s traditional system of showing, delivering and discounting collections to better match today’s globalised, digital world. But meaningful change may take 12 to 24 months.
What Happened to Rethinking the Fashion System?
For brands big and small, there is real value in rethinking the industry’s traditional system of showing, delivering and discounting collections to better match today’s globalised, digital world. But meaningful change may take 12 to 24 months.
The Story of Telfar: Agony, Ecstasy and Covid-19
After more than a decade of toil, American designer Telfar Clemens was finally poised for mainstream success, with a hit bag nicknamed the ‘Bushwick Birkin’ and a cultural message ripe for the times. Then came coronavirus.
The Story of Telfar: Agony, Ecstasy and Covid-19
After more than a decade of toil, American designer Telfar Clemens was finally poised for mainstream success, with a hit bag nicknamed the ‘Bushwick Birkin’ and a cultural message ripe for the times. Then came coronavirus.
How a Young Designer Is Rethinking the Playbook for Emerging Brands
After working with the likes of Kanye West and Hood by Air’s Shayne Oliver, Lourdes’ Andreas Aresti is determined to dodge convention.
How a Young Designer Is Rethinking the Playbook for Emerging Brands
After working with the likes of Kanye West and Hood by Air’s Shayne Oliver, Lourdes’ Andreas Aresti is determined to dodge convention.
What Happened to Hood By Air?
Shayne Oliver speaks to BoF about the rise and fall of Hood By Air, how the American fashion system thwarts creativity and his plans to relaunch his brand.
What Happened to Hood By Air?
Shayne Oliver speaks to BoF about the rise and fall of Hood By Air, how the American fashion system thwarts creativity and his plans to relaunch his brand.
The Decade When Streetwear Rewrote the Rules of Luxury
As we head into 2020, streetwear's influence on the way fashion is bought and sold — not to mention the culture at large — remains strong, argues David Fischer, founder and CEO of Highsnobiety.
The Decade When Streetwear Rewrote the Rules of Luxury
As we head into 2020, streetwear's influence on the way fashion is bought and sold — not to mention the culture at large — remains strong, argues David Fischer, founder and CEO of Highsnobiety.
Paula Cademartori Parts Ways With OTB Group
The Italian-Brazilian accessories brand is ending its three-year partnership with Renzo Rosso’s group by mutual consent.
Paula Cademartori Parts Ways With OTB Group
The Italian-Brazilian accessories brand is ending its three-year partnership with Renzo Rosso’s group by mutual consent.
What is The BoF 500?
The people shaping the global fashion industry, curated by the editors of The Business of Fashion, based on nominations and on-the-ground intelligence from around the world.
