NYFW: Hood by Air Held Church on a Sunday Morning

It's no longer breaking news in the fashion world, but it still begs to be reported that Shayne Oliver is changing the course of New York fashion. Staged today at the Spring Street studios in Tribeca, the Hood By Air runway show felt more like a performative commentary on style and gender identity than as a simple assemblage of 30-some odd looks being sent down the catwalk. Soundtracked by a mix of live church choir hallelujahs and post-apocalyptic rolling thunder courtesy of Total Freedom and Dutch E Germ mastermind Tim Dewit, the presentation ranged from a model on crutches wearing deconstructed suiting to boys rocking leather tunics and lucite pillories etched with the HBA logo. The presentation climaxed with the appearance of BoyChild stalking the runway with a spotted Great Dane striding alongside. And though the front row that was peppered with K-Pop megastars CL and Xin and FADER faves Dev Hynes and Kelela, all eyes were reverently fixated on Oliver's handiwork, as though sitting in on a master class in the art of expressing sentiment through garment. In the presence of fashion editors and hung over scenesters, Oliver quietly turned the runway into his very own pulpit, evoking true emotion from the otherwise passive viewer and instilling hope into our over crowded NYFW schedule.  Needless to say, he may or may not have made an unnamed FADER editor shed a tear.