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Did Timothée Chalamet and Gucci make hoodies high fashion? Luxury brands from Louis Vuitton and Loewe to Bottega Veneta and Miu Miu are elevating streetwear with sequins, cashmere and leather

Did Timothée Chalamet’s sparkly hoodie at The King premiere in 2019 launch the streetwear staple on a path to high fashion ubiquity? Photo: WireImage
Did Timothée Chalamet’s sparkly hoodie at The King premiere in 2019 launch the streetwear staple on a path to high fashion ubiquity? Photo: WireImage
Fashion

  • From Sylvester Stallone’s iconic Rocky look to the rafts of Silicon Valley tech geeks, hoodies have always been a go-to – but now the humble streetwear staple is being pimped as party wear
  • Champion launched the hoodie in the 1930s as clothing for athletes and labourers working outdoors – today Heather Gramston at Browns advises the key is to pair it with non-sporty items

It is perhaps comforting in this complex world that there’s one item of clothing – the hoodie, aka the hooded sweatshirt – that straddles so many cultures. It’s been politicised, worn by sports players, and is a staple of streetwear and skate culture. It’s the uniform of big time tech geeks in Silicon Valley, a pop culture mainstay (Rocky Balboa played by Sylvester Stallone in Rocky, for one) and a favourite of high fashion.

Right now, luxury fashion can’t get enough of the hoodie. At Sabato De Sarno’s debut at Gucci in September last year, it was an essential, part of the designer’s modus operandi to rethink wardrobe foundation pieces – what we have already, or that we need.

Gucci spring/summer 2024
Gucci spring/summer 2024
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“I started from the wardrobe,” he told Vogue ahead of the show, “because I felt the urgency to put together the pieces that I like and that I don’t find.”

Heather Gramston, senior head of womenswear and menswear buying at Browns Fashion, says De Sarno’s hoodie fits with how the luxury retailer’s customers are thinking about hoodies in their wardrobes.

“Over the past few seasons the Browns customer has been looking to invest in seasonless pieces that can fit in with the rest of their wardrobe and be styled in many different ways. Sabato De Sarno’s tonal hoodie with debossed Gucci branding is a great example of this,” she says.

Michael Kors autumn/winter 2024
Michael Kors autumn/winter 2024

Post pandemic sweatpants, then the full glamour of the so-called “Roaring 20s” as people indulged their desire to dress up as lockdowns lifted, the elevated hoodie might be an ideal middle ground. It can tone down an overtly glamorous outfit, adding a comfortable and versatile vibe. As Miu Miu showed back for autumn/winter 2023, a hoodie looks chic layered under a good coat and knits – with the effect of making busy woman look ready for anything. And as demonstrated by Michael Kors at New York Fashion Week in February, a sequinned hoodie can definitely double as a party dress, as well as something smart and uber luxurious and cashmere-y to wear underneath a sharp skirt suit.

Gramston says the key to wearing a hoodie beyond the weekend coffee run is to rethink it and style it with less sporty pieces. “Pair it with a contrasting print, colour or texture to add an element of interest to the bottom half of the outfit, as De Sarno did by styling the grey Gucci hoodie with burgundy leather trousers,” she says “Alongside De Sarno’s interpretation of the logo hoodie for the current season, we’re seeing other designers elevate the piece by creating it in luxe fabrics, for example cashmere and merino wool.”

Saint Laurent hoodie, available at Browns
Saint Laurent hoodie, available at Browns

As Gramston also points out, the hoodie coming back into luxury fashion is nothing new. The item might have originated in the 1930s with Champion, as an item of clothing for athletes and labourers working outside in harsh conditions, but it’s popped up on plenty of runways since then, and in all manner of cuts, fabrics and aesthetics.