History of the Hoodie

Hoodie's have been found as far back as the ancient Greeks and Romans over 3000 years ago. The next time a hoodie would be prevalent again would be with the medieval monks before the renaissaunce. - Paola Antonelli

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By the 17th century, women had started to wear hoods to hide when they went to meet with their lovers. While they helped these ladies avoid scandal, they were also seen as scary. Hoodies had woven themselves into the fabric of society’s associations with death, attached to both the Grim Reaper and executioners.

 

More chill and less chilling, the modern-day hoodie was invented in the 1930s by Knickerbocker Knitting Company, which became the brand Champion. It was developed to help warehouse labourers in upstate New York stay warm during the frigid winters. From there, it was adopted by workmen and athletes everywhere.

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It was in the 1970s when the hoodie began its heyday. Hip-hop was taking off in the urban centres of the United States, while American universities began plastering their logos and crests on sweatshirts, and the 1976 film Rocky famously saw the titular working-class hero jogging up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in his iconic grey hooded jumper. Tl;dr hoodies connected the street to style.

 

In the 1980s, hip-hop artists were moving more into mainstream music — and hoodies came with them. The musicians were emulating the power and success of athletes, and their ostentatious style formed a sort of chicken-and-egg relationship with gang culture. By the 1990s, the hoodie had become a staple in wardrobes around the world, spanning college campuses and counter-cultural movements.

 

Following the turn of the century, for better or for worse, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg defied corporate norms by making a hoodie, t-shirt and jeans his every day #OOTD. It was a fashion moment that turned into a movement. (Who wears a suit anymore?) Following in the (bare) footsteps of dot-com tycoons before him, he shifted workplaces and wardrobes towards simplicity, creativity and casualness.

 

Today, hoodies bridge hip-hop and high fashion. With the rise of streetwear, they have become fixtures on catwalks from Tokyo to New York to Paris, not to mention celebrities everywhere.