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To capture the very short attention of the fashion world for a season is commendable, but to maintain that appeal, even after a nearly three-year hiatus, is an impressive feat few brands can boast about. Hood by Air has earned its bragging rights and is officially making its return. Last week, former Hood By Air creative director Ian Isiah told Essence that the brand was “coming back and we’re Black.”
Shayne Oliver and Leilah Weinraub launched Hood By Air in 2006 in Brooklyn debuting T-shirts as its inaugural product before introducing the brand’s signature chopped and screwed luxury aesthetic that propelled streetwear forward. On Monday, July 13, Hood By Air announced its revival on its newly-resurrected Instagram. “Over a decade later, we continue to produce objects and artifacts that transcend attitudes and ideas in order to challenge what luxury means for future audiences,” the brand wrote on its only Instagram post.
“In recent years we have seen the creative industries distance themselves further and further from real culture,” the post continued. “Radical works have been pushed out by gentrification. The youth have been robbed of the physical and psychological spaces necessary for new ideas to grow. The system is antiquated and we want to replace it with something new. There is another world that needs to be created. We’ve done it before, and we’re doing it again.”
In April 2017, Hood By Air went on an indefinite hiatus due to internal struggles at a time when Oliver and Weinraub had other commitments—Oliver was heading to Helmut Lang while Weinraub was gearing up for her directorial debut with her documentary Shakedown.
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The new and improved Hood By Air launches with four prongs: Hood by Air, HBA, Museum and Anonymous Club. Hood By Air will focus on curating events each year; HBA is its direct-to-consumer counterpart, featuring collections and other products (following its own schedule). Then, there’s Museum which will host designs from Hood By Air’s archives and finally Anonymous Club, a platform dedicated to amplifying budding talent.
To start, this Thursday, July 16, Hood By Air will launch a special limited edition T-shirt and a partnership with Cash App. Proceeds from both initiatives will be donated to three organizations: Black Trans Femmes in the Arts, Gays & Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society, and the Emergency Release Fund.
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