Shayne Oliver

The adventure of the designer Shayne Oliver as the guest designer of Colmar A.G.E. ends with the New York based designer and founder of Hood by Air, creating a very personal interpretation of the archives with an inspired collection, that is decidedly less extreme than the previous two. Consisting of a colour palette of black, flame red and electric blue paired with a hi-vis fabric, which is applied both as detailing and as the actual fabrication of the garments. The rubber patches which have been a signature of the designer’s A.G.E. collections are placed on sleeves and the back of pieces, ranging from jackets to trousers, sweatshirts and T-shirts in an underground mood. The a-gender collection references the needs of a style conscious public, with a nod to urban lifestyles.

Within the collection, jackets come in different cuts and lengths. An oversized parka is quilted with a hood, press studs and front zip. A bomber jacket comes with a stretch knit collar, waistband and sleeves, with a light down jacket appearing classic only to reveal that the piece is actually turned inside out, with the seams exposed. Salopette pants are lightweight with a small pocket on the front. A variety of soft fleece sweatshirts, in different silhouettes come with statement hi-vis pockets, with the T-shirts reimagined with the statement applied patch telling the story of the unique collaboration between the two worlds of history (Colmar) and visionary (Oliver). The 14 piece collection will be available from September 2019 through 11 leading stores globally, including Ssense, Luisaviaroma, jofre, Block 60.

For the campaign, Oliver enlisted photographer Jordan Hemingway, who has been responsible for capturing the previous two collections. London based artist Hemingway, has previously collaborated with Emporio Armani, Grace Wales Bonner, Gucci and Roberto Cavalli. For the campaign the designer and photographer street cast models, who they felt embodied the spirit of the collection.

It would be just dumb to try to sum up Helmut Lang in a few words. His massive, creative legacy flows in nearly every second designer’s blood today, from the reoccurring notion of ‘urban minimalism’ to growing tendency of inviting various models and nodels to walk in fashion shows. Let just say one of the biggest Lang-isms revived in Shayne Oliver‘s debut collection at the brand (whose editor-in-residence is Isabella Burley) was sensuality, or rather its much, much filthier side. If you look back at Helmut’s collection from the 90s and early 2000s, you will note that the visionary designer enjoyed playing with transparency and made the hardest-in-use fabrics look refined on the body. For Oliver, sensuality is something much more, hmm, aggressive. It’s kinky. It’s BDSM-inspired, with lots of untamed nudity and boldness. There were lots of irregularly fitted bras, lots of leather and lots of New York-favoured trashiness to it. Actually, the collection had a lot to do with Shayne’s currently under hiatus Hood By Air brand that used to be tagged as the most ‘disruptive’ brand of the New York fashion week’s calendar. Sexuality is a big word this season, and while designers think of it in more subtle and natural ways, Oliver is undoubtedly going very ‘badass’ with it. It’s good that the designer isn’t digging to hard in Lang’s archives. But I’m not absolutely persuaded that the capital letter HELMUT written all over the t-shirts and coats is what the founder thought of. Helmut kept the mood bit more calmer, sans caps-lock. Nevertheless, that was definitely the most anticipated collection this time around in the Big Apple.