The book archives the work done by Shayne Oliver while on hiatus from the eponymous fashion label Hood by Air. The breadth of work spans across night-life, Oliver’s residency at Helmut Lang, collaborations with other established fashion houses, performance, video, music, and art direction.

Despite Oliver’s infamy, when I took the project on the full breadth of the group’s output was still largely unknown. The approach to the book is rooted in making a generous offer while maintaining the sense of illusiveness the brand is known for.

The design takes intentional steps away from the “coffee table book” trope by avoiding signifiers like bespoke typography, hardcover binding and glossy full-bleed imagery. Commissioned writing and assertions of value are replaced with the DACS standard—an ‘output neutral’ set of rules used by archivists. Layouts use the proportions of plastic archival sleeves with watermarked imagery, and the pages are bound with metal document binders, leaving the spine exposed and blank.