One of the bigger shocks of the past few months was the fact that Hood By Air would be the guest presenter at the tailoring mecca of the men's fashion world, Pitti Uomo. Take one of the most divisive fashion brands around today and have it present a collection where suits and floppy hats reign supreme? Okay, sure. Whatever you say. As Style Dot Com's Noah Johnson notes, this is not the brand's actual F/W 15 line that will still be shown at NYFW this February. Regardless, the seemingly hostile environment didn't stop HBA from doing what it does best: make weird, directional, statement clothing. And yet, it still incorporated some of Pitti Uomo signature traits with arguably it's most defined and classic designs to date. HBA opted for a classic color palette with camel, navy and grey making up a bulk of the show and used its well known black and white color blocking scheme sparingly. Styles were pared down from HBA proper, dropping the straps and screen-printing in exchange for topcoats. But, of course, the over-the-top showmanship was still present thanks to platform shoes, fake eyelashes, afros and enough fringe to make a Village People tribute group squeal with unadulterated joy. I will say that this is easily the most I've ever liked a Hood By Air collection, their "Classics" line of tees aside. Though we can't see the backs here, which could very well feature various insane details, these looks seem immensely wearable, which is something I've never said or even thought about HBA in the past. If I had my way, this sort of design aesthetic would carry over into the brand's main line at NYFW, but we'll have to wait and see if that's even a remote possibility.
