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Now that the sneaker bubble seems to be
beginning to deflate
(Nike is going through one of its most complicated moments in years), there is another sports-inspired bet that promises to dynamite the casual style as sports shoes have already achieved by landing in the luxury market. more than a decade ago.
We are referring to the sweatshirt, that garment intended as a casual basic that we all keep in our closet, but that in recent times has gained
unusual prominence
thanks, in part, to the success of many digital native brands aimed at generation Z.
Representatives of this boom
Among others,
Blue Banana or Nude Project,
two Spanish labels that have turned the sweatshirt into an object of desire. "At Blue Banana, a large percentage of our sales correspond to sweatshirts and hoodies. Last year, for example,
more than 200,000
new units left our website and physical stores," says Juan Fernández-Estrada, co-founder Of the brand. A figure that, according to the firm's data, represents an increase of 25% compared to sales from the previous year.
Nude Project sweatshirt.
Bruno Casanovas,
co-founder of the successful Nude Project, points out in the same direction
: "Without a doubt, the sales of our sweatshirts have been an indicator of their great reception among our customers. Since the same year in which we founded the brand, we observed that
it was sold a sweatshirt every 20 seconds,
which clearly reflects the meaning this garment has for our community.
The sweatshirt has also become the best-selling garment from
Zubi,
a brand aimed at a more adult target audience, reflecting the growing interest in this garment regardless of age: "The sweatshirts have been launched within a capsule collection called THREADS , which also includes caps, t-shirts, charms for our bags and jewelry for everyday use. The first week of launch (Thursday, February 15) more than 20 units were sold,
positioning itself as the best product in the collection
and being the gray favorite color (the same model is in gray and beige2). It continues to be one of the best sellers today," explains
Mercedes Zubizarreta,
creative director of the brand, about its sweatshirts made of 100% organic cotton.
A Zubi look.
The evolution of a garment
Nacho Rivera,
the other half of Blue Banana, is clear about how the sweatshirt has evolved from a "younger profile: student, teenager or even child" to currently being "a garment that
both parents and children wear.
And that is brutal. And if we think about the sweatshirt for women, the revolution is even greater: the pandemic left us with an informal style in which sportswear is worn with any type of garment and on any occasion."
At Nude Project they agree with this argument and identify the growing popularity of the sweatshirt with the success of sneakers, which "transcended their original use in the sports field to become a basic element in the everyday wardrobe, sweatshirts are experiencing
a similar evolution For
this
reason, now we are also looking for more neutral sweatshirts, combinable with different styles and perfect for everyday wear," says Casanovas.
Blue Banana Designs.
From the point of view of the stylist and creative consultant
Benedetta Perazzo,
co-founder of the SOWLL platform, this intergenerational success responds to the
versatile nature
of the garment, "its comfort and versatility adapts to all ages, even climates because cotton allows "play with layering [layer upon layer] and adapt to different contexts. I think that versatility is key: depending on the color, design, collar, hood, graphics... it can fit on many occasions."
The dignified sweatshirt
Long before the sweatshirt became the new jewel in the crown beyond streetwear, designer
Paco Pintón
had already made his eponymous brand a reference among those looking for quality sweatshirts. It was 2015 when he set out to "dignify that garment that is as important in the contemporary wardrobe as it is reviled by many designers and fashion buyers. For this reason, my first lines of sweatshirts were limited and very special editions, with hand-painted details; I wanted that the buyer felt that they were buying something relevant, the same as it feels when buying a party dress or a dress shirt," he adds.
Sweatshirt designed by Paco Pintón.
The creative assures that the sweatshirt is his firm's best-selling garment and maintains that "the sweatshirt has gained relevance and importance in current fashion, especially since luxury brands such as
Balenciaga or Celine
have incorporated it into their fashion shows."
Sweatshirts in high fashion...
The truth is that the spring/summer 2024 season is full of examples where the sweatshirt reveals its almost unlimited potential as an alternative to jackets, jackets and even dresses.
Gucci
proposes a design with the brand's name across the garment, combined with microshorts and platform loafers.
JW Anderson
surprises with the dressed version of the hoodie, while
Balenciaga
once again relies on the power of oversized shapes to shape sweatshirts that look two sizes too big when worn.
Look from JW Anderson's spring-summer 2024 collection.
The most sensual option is found in
Dion Lee
and her draped sweatshirts. Even the Australian
Zimmermann,
a brand recognized for its airy boho dresses, leaves behind its hippy chic side to introduce navel-cut sweatshirts.
...and on the red carpets
On the red carpet, the epicenter of the most sophisticated glamour, was the actor
Timothée Chalamet,
one of the best dressed men in the current star system, one of the first to surrender to the sweatshirt. In 2019, during the London promotion of the film 'The King', he showed that there was life beyond the suit when he appeared on the red carpet wearing a midnight blue hoodie studded with sequins and signed by
Louis Vuitton.
Timothée Chalamet on the carpet in a Louis Vuitton sweatshirt. Next to him, actor Joel Edgerton.GTRES
Since then, the sweatshirt has been making its way into outfits far from the usual sports aesthetic: it is worn under jackets, with trench coats, over shirts and dresses.
Anything goes.
Above barriers
The transversal success of this unpretentious garment - whose Internet searches in Spain have grown little by little in the last two years - also offers another reading. If we take into account that the sweatshirt circumvents the limits of what is feminine and what is masculine, we should not be surprised by its good reception at a time when gender clothing barriers
are
beginning to become increasingly diffuse.
Look from Zimmermann's spring-summer 2024 show.
The same occurs with its ability to break down age barriers
,
proof that so-called ageism (discrimination based on age) is timidly cracking its still very solid foundations regarding the way of dressing of both age groups. . Why shouldn't a 60-year-old woman (or man) be able to dress however she wants without receiving prejudiced looks?
The sweatshirt demonstrates that the way clothing is perceived evolves along with society. A few years ago it was a typically youthful, masculine bet encompassed in the sports field. Now the sweatshirt is
made for everyone.
Fashion trends