Quite Butch queen realness in athletic heels , no?

TI's fascination with NY style mavericks Hood By Air is pretty self-evident. They are like a new chapter in the myth of New York living in the grand tradition of boomboxes and breakdancing, vogue balls and languorous summer days spent on handball courts. I hear the music of New York night clubs when I see their clothes which is practical and flamboyant, sportif and conceptual, plus I love their homemade videos which always has me in stitches. I caught up with Shayen, one of the architects of HBA , where he schooled me to the ways and by-laws of a taste point called Hood By Air.

Is New York "late" right now next to London and Berlin ? Is there hope for NY to snatch the moment back?

No, never that. London has its cocky sensibility. We're realist... or too conservative lol. From a New York point of view, I feel like they have this way of complicating expression, or at least mocking it in a way that comes off as pompous...even late. We are everyday show queens, whereas they're queens that put on a show. Which is pretty cool both ways.NY is coming back though, We always birth the urban renewal.

From HBA I get a feeling of Nike but also of a vogue battle with a little vintage Gaultier...vintage Westwood.... Something Yohji is up in there too. I get many things. Am I wrong?

These are a few things that have been an inspiration, not necessarily reference... I love the sense of active restriction which I feel these inspirations embody.

Where do you all come from?

Hood By Air's Mad Take On Urban Wear

I literally just got off the phone with that major TI enabler and honorary hiss squader, frillr.com's Fabien and during the course of a Warholian ki-ki, got turned on to the brilliance of a design outfit called Hood By Air. TI adores the website (the video flash embed is major), the insane take on everyday urbanwear (can boys in tights really hit the streets of Bed Sty without hitting the streets of Bed Sty? HBA thinks so). We also adore the creators of this aesthetic and the mad mad genius of their youtube videos. The clothes are already docked at Seven, AND they have a party called The Beat Klub (Weds night at Le Royale: Admisssion is FREE). I'm chasing these guys for a TI Q+A because they make us laugh so hard! I think they've buzzed thru these pages because Shane mopped Jayson Keeling's legendary snap of Tyger Tyson featured on TI back then. If you read this guys, do holla...wayne@theimagist.com.

Hood By Air's Signage