After the T-shirt, Hast continues its tour of success stories and invites you to retrace the advent of another timeless item (and not the least...): the sweatshirt . Pronounced "swét" and not "swit", it has become an essential basic in the male wardrobe. If today you can't imagine spending a weekend or going for a jog without it, it took patience for the sweatshirt to become a fashion phenomenon. Yes, but do you know the history of this iconic piece?
The birth of the sweatshirt
Straight from America, the sweatshirt first appeared in the 1920s to solve a problem encountered by young athletes on American campus fields. To train, they wore heavy virgin wool sweaters that kept them extremely hot and irritated their skin.
Complicated to train in these conditions? That was the opinion of Benjamin Russel Junior, a player on the Alabama team, who, tired of sweating in his sweater, asked his father, a textile manufacturer, to create a new sports outfit for him. Without further ado: Benjamin Russel, head of the Russel Manufacturing Company, had the idea of making a collarless top in cotton jersey: the "sweatshirt". A literal translation of "sweatshirt". Now you can see why.
In the beginning was the fleece
For its part, the Knickerbocker Knitting Company brand, also known as Champion, is developing a new material, a fleece called reverse weave. The mesh is no longer knitted on the bias but vertically, which gives it a more stretchy appearance and also more resistant to washing. Practical for athletes...
If we can assume that Benjamin Russell invented the sweatshirt design, it was Champion who revolutionized the material. A winning combination. The myth was born.
Unique know-how (the chiné)
Champion, whose history is therefore closely linked to that of the sweatshirt, marketed its first hoodie version (with a hood) in 1934. Then, in the 50s, the market took off thanks to Russel Athletic. The brand had the idea of mixing the colors of threads in the composition of the fabric used, thus creating a rendering that is very widespread today: mottled.
Later, Champion (them again) offered to personalize the sweatshirt using the flocking technique. Successful at first among students who proudly displayed the colors of their university, the trend subsequently invaded the entire world. The sweatshirt became a means of expression and belonging to a group. With a logo or a slogan, it was possible to assert one's tastes and ideas.
The sweatshirt explosion
Once its manufacture is mastered, everything goes very quickly. New craze first in the 80s, with the advent of the cult of the body and the search for performance, particularly through sport. In the cinema, certain cult figures appear in these new clothes. We remember Sylvester Stallone in Rocky IV wearing a white sweatshirt with the Hugo Boss logo, or Jennifer Beals in Flashdance. The taste is then for eccentricity with colorful pieces, almost fluorescent, with falling collars or kitsch patterns.
Finally, in the 90s, hip-hop culture definitively took over the trend and made the sweatshirt the uniform of the movement. Dr Dre, Biggie, Coolio or Eminem appeared in XXL hoodies and jogging pants, in a very street and completely new style.
Too much sweatshirt kills the sweatshirt?
As you can see, the sweatshirt has gone from a simple sports jersey to a real fashion item in just a few years, taken up in the music industry or by renowned designers. With its great simplicity of production, its multiple customization possibilities, its timeless design and its spirit of comfort, it is the darling of brands and is becoming omnipresent in collections. It is becoming so popular that fast-fashion brands are starting to mass produce it to the point of consumers feeling saturated. Available in all its forms, it changes its look according to desires: round neck, raglan sleeves, with a hood or kangaroo pockets and in current colors. Does this mean the end of the sweatshirt? Of course not. The sweatshirt remains a key piece of the men's wardrobe that must be chosen sparingly, paying particular attention to its manufacture.
The sweatshirt by Hast
Hast is therefore embarking on the beautiful adventure of the sweatshirt, by raising it to a new dimension: that of a comfortable, high-end and responsible sweater. In the choice of rare materials on this market, we encourage our customers to be demanding. Our two sweatshirts are made from a beautiful unbrushed fleece in organic cotton and hemp. Two fibers with the same virtues of lightness and comfort as those of fabrics used throughout the long history of the sweatshirt. A responsible choice.
We have chosen to offer you two mottled colours, ecru and blue. Stylistically impeccable, they go as well with a formal style, on a large collar shirt for example, as with a more casual look, worn simply on a t-shirt. Our sweatshirts are therefore the perfect union between the formal and casual worlds, a duality that is so dear to us at Hast.
This summer you will be the most responsibly stylish but also the most informed, ready to shine with your inexhaustible knowledge on the history of the sweatshirt between two dips in the pool or at aperitif time.
