Hot Air

Colorful and trendy Hot Air Brand shirts.

Colorful and trendy Hot Air Brand shirts.

Hot Air clothing, created in 2007, is the brainchild of Chike Ozah, an award-winning director who has created videos for artists Kanye West, Mos Def, and Lela James. Literally speaking, high-flying hot air balloons are the main sources of inspiration by the label’s founder and creative director. Ozah saw soaring hot-air balloons like pieces of post-modern art.

“One day I saw a clip on You-Tube of hot air balloons and thought it would translate well into a shirt. It all just ran from there,” Ozah told URB magazine.

Supporting Ozah’s vision are his partners Bee Nguyen, Diego Carlin, Louis Yakich, Charlie Muff, and Duke Wu. With hot air balloons and the travelling, adventure-seeking, and exploration lifestyle linked as inspiration, the Los Angeles-based label aims to be a high-end fashion line for all trendy fashion-forward people.

According to Ozah, his fan base consists of “progressive, independent, fashion-forward individual who wants to make a statement—someone who wants to bring their own style to clothes and how they wear them. Definitely a style-oriented person would wear Hot Air.”

And because the collection is geared for posh people who enjoy hot air ballooning, patrons can only expect the finest materials in their clothing. “We definitely try to incorporate nylon as much as possible, we’re moving into some cashmere and later we plan on getting into denim which we should be releasing this fall,” said Nguyen in his interview with Persona Magazine.

The collection made a debut during the Holiday 2007 season. The line featured tees, jackets, and hats for men and women. Most of the collection is emblazoned with trendy geometric patterns on simple yet elegant high-end pieces. As Ozah puts it, “It was inspired by the affluent lifestyle of hot air ballooning, and we wanted to target that specific type of person and what they wear. Like what Nautica did for sailing and Ralph Lauren did for Polo games, we want to do for ballooning.”

Hot Air Brand's trademark - the Hot Air Balloon embroidery on its premium denim's small pocket.

Hot Air Brand's trademark - the Hot Air Balloon embroidery on its premium denim's small pocket.

In the Spring 2009 collection, the line consisted of shirts, vests, and jackets with clean styles. Included in the collection are tees like the Professor Haberdash, Sapo White, Aztec V-Neck, Descent, Barcelona, and Modulation; the Epic vest; and the Chateau Flight twill, and Expedition Zip pocket outerwears.

Hot Air has also collaborated with a number of clothing lines, including Diamond Supply Co., where both companies have created a limited edition shirt for the Holiday season. The label has also collaborated with Grey One and New Era and have come up with a Holiday season hat.

Hot Air goods have been featured in prominent and indie magazines such as XLR8R, 944, Guys, URB, Antenna, WAD, DNR, Un1que, Vapors, Sneaker Marmalade, Out West, Spray, and Apparel News. Brand supporters include music video director Hype Williams, and movie director Jessy Terrero.

So what should we expect from this revolutionary line? Nguyen has this to say: “(We would) definitely experiment with distribution, to branch out to more countries in Europe and Asia, and get some worldwide recognition!”

There’s just no stopping Hot Air. Looks like it’s going to soar for many years more.

Hot Air clothing is available at select stores across the nation and at www.karmaloop.com.