MILAN — Hood by Air’s creative director Shayne Oliver is ready to shake things up at Pitti Uomo with his urban, irreverent, extravagant fashion approach.
The Brooklyn-based designer, who last year won a special jury award at the LVMH Prize for young fashion designers, is gearing up to unveil his fall 2015 men’s collection on Wednesday at the antique Villa di Maiano in the Florentine hills.
“The collection we are showing at Pitti is a specific statement, a special project introducing our new formal-based tailoring,” said Oliver during a preview of the new collection. “The goal is to recollect the men’s wardrobe back together, making it solid.”
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Oliver launched Hood by Air in 2006. At that time, the brand’s offering was limited to T-shirts showing the word “Hood” in big letters. The first complete collection was produced in November 2007, but Oliver took a hiatus the year after. The designer relaunched the label in 2012 with the goal of creating a real lifestyle brand, boosted by the introduction of the Classic line, which includes printed pieces and separates, as well as a women’s range, which debuted at Paris Fashion Week last September.
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In order to expand the label and improve the products’ quality, Oliver set up a studio in Milan with three internal designers who help him source fabrics in the country and control production. Collections are mostly manufactured in Italy, except for certain pieces realized in California, New York and Canada.
Although in February, during New York Fashion Week, the brand will show a “very recognizable collection” for fall, based more on sportswear, Oliver said that for Pitti, without setting aside the urban, casual traits of the label’s previous collections, he focused on a new idea of formalwear, where tailoring is combined with sportswear in a fresh, cool way.
“We’re very focused on outerwear,” the designer explained. Oliver reworked classic men’s staples, including biker jackets, shearling coats and parkas, which he infused with a sporty, casual appeal through the insertion of details inspired by extreme sports. These include insulated molding that give a sort of muscle definition to the pieces, which were designed to resemble armor protecting those wearing them.
Working in a wide range of luxury fabrics — including suiting-grade wool, suede, leather and technical nylon — Oliver also delivered sartorial pants with a relaxed fit and quirky trousers long enough to incorporate the shoes. To complete the offering, Oliver designed bijoux with marble necklaces in the same fabric as the clothes, as well as special headpieces.
Hood by Air, which counts Asia as its biggest market, currently sells its collections in about 100 stores around the world. With the participation at Pitti Uomo and the opening of a showroom in Milan, the brand hopes to expand its presence in Europe.
Oliver also revealed that the company found a location in Manhattan for its first flagship, which is expected to open between the end of 2015 and the first part of 2016. “But we have no rush,” Oliver said.