The Anonymous Club team came together through people Oliver met in his community. “It’s the kids that show up to class and show out,” he says. “That’s the vetting process, seeing who is showing enthusiasm and high quality work.” He adds that the houses share kids too, “some people from Telfar [Miller worked at Telfar before joining Anonymous Club], some know Raul [Lopez of Luar, and cofounder of Hood By Air].”
“It’s a beautiful thing how Shayne hand picks the people he wants to work with and gives them a chance and a place to grow organically,” says Jalil Howard, who assists Oliver and also oversees social media and logistics, in addition to doing in-house styling. “Everyone in Anonymous Club wears more than one hat,” Howard says while wearing a hat with the words “creative director” on it, which nods at how “everyone wants to be a creative director these days,” in the words of Oliver.
“I came up in a weird space where this new, young, street wear thing was blowing up and it really fucked it,” says Oliver in reference to the now familiar story of how Hood By Air fell apart. “There was a lot of learning to be done and the market was growing faster than the actual designers. And I don’t ever want to be part of that culture again. I want to work with partners who understand what’s going on, and I think I am now.”
Oliver is eager to move forward with a brand that works for him, even if it breaks away from the familiar industry system. His approach at Anonymous Club makes that clear, and it will inform how he works at his Shayne Oliver label, too. “I want to do women’s wear so badly,” he says, adding, “dressing up the dolls is what I’m here for. I still love designing, I just had to take care of my babies, get that out of the way.”
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