Updated November 2026 · By Socks That Pop
Quick answer: hoodies were invented in the 1930s in the United States. Champion, the Rochester, New York company that began as Knickerbocker Knitting Mills in 1919, is widely credited with making the first hooded sweatshirt, designed to keep athletes warm on the sidelines and laborers warm in freezing upstate New York warehouses. Hoodies became popular as everyday fashion in the 1970s and 1980s, through hip-hop, skateboarding, college style and the movie Rocky. The word "hoodie" itself only appeared around 1990.
The hooded sweatshirt is now one of the most worn garments on the planet, but its story starts with medieval monks, passes through cold-storage warehouses and football benches, and ends up on luxury runways. Here is the full history of the hoodie, a timeline of key moments, and some fun facts to share the next time you pull one on.
Jump to: What are hoodies? · Hoodie timeline · Who invented hoodies? · When did hoodies become popular? · Hoodies today · Fun facts · FAQ
What Are Hoodies?
A hoodie is a sweatshirt with an attached hood. Most hoodies are made from cotton or a cotton-polyester blend knitted as fleece, with a soft brushed inside and a smoother outside. The classic pullover hoodie has a front pouch, often called a kangaroo pocket, a drawstring to adjust the hood and ribbed cuffs and waistband to keep warmth in. The other main version is the zip-up hoodie, which opens down the front like a jacket. Today there are oversized, cropped, heavyweight and lightweight styles too; our guide to the 12 types of hoodies explains each one.
Hoodies and sweatshirts are close relatives. A sweatshirt is the broader category, usually a crewneck pullover with no hood. A hoodie is simply a sweatshirt with a hood. Both started life as athletic gear.
History of the Hoodie: A Timeline
| Year | Moment |
|---|---|
| Middle Ages | Monks in Europe wear hooded robes and cowls, and workers wear separate hoods for warmth. |
| 1919 | Knickerbocker Knitting Mills, later Champion, opens in Rochester, New York. |
| 1926–1930 | Russell Manufacturing in Alabama develops the cotton crewneck sweatshirt for football practice. |
| 1930s | Champion adds a hood to its heavy sweatshirts for athletes, cold-storage workers and outdoor laborers. |
| 1938 and 1952 | Champion patents its shrink-resistant Reverse Weave construction for athletic wear. |
| 1950s–1960s | Hooded sweatshirts spread through high schools and colleges, often printed with team names. |
| 1970s | Hip-hop, graffiti and skate culture adopt the hoodie; Rocky (1976) puts gray sweats on the big screen. |
| 1980s | Designers bring sportswear into fashion, and college logo hoodies become a campus uniform. |
| 1990–1991 | The word "hoodie" appears in print for the first time. |
| 1990s | Rap groups, skaters, surfers and snowboarders make the hoodie streetwear's essential layer. |
| 2000s | Tech founders and celebrities wear hoodies everywhere, from offices to red carpets. |
| 2010s | Luxury houses sell designer hoodies, and the oversized hoodie becomes a global trend. |
| 2020s | Hoodies become everyday wear for work-from-home life, lounging, travel and gifting. |
Before the Hoodie: Hoods, Cowls and Medieval Workwear
People have been attaching hoods to clothing for a very long time. In medieval Europe, monks wore long robes with hoods called cowls, a practical way to stay warm in drafty stone monasteries. Ordinary workers and travelers wore hoods too, sometimes as separate pieces that covered the head and shoulders. The idea was always the same: a hood traps heat around the head and neck and keeps off wind and rain, without the need for a separate hat. That simple logic is exactly why the hood came back centuries later on American sweatshirts.
Who Invented Hoodies?
The company most often credited with inventing the hoodie is Champion. It was founded on May 6, 1919 in Rochester, New York, as Knickerbocker Knitting Mills, by the Feinbloom family, and became Champion Knitwear Mills in the 1920s. The company first made sweaters and then learned to sew the thick fleece fabric used in underwear into heavier sweatshirts.
According to Champion's own history and later interviews with its former executives, the hood was added in the 1930s for two groups who needed more warmth:
- Athletes: football and track teams wanted a warm garment to wear on the sidelines between plays or practice sessions in bad weather.
- Laborers: workers in cold-storage warehouses and outdoor trades through the New York winter needed something warmer than long underwear under their clothes.
Champion was not the only pioneer of the sweatshirt itself. In Alabama, Russell Manufacturing is credited with the modern crewneck sweatshirt. Around 1926, Benjamin Russell Jr., a University of Alabama football player, complained that his team's wool practice jerseys were itchy and shrank in the wash. His father's company created a soft cotton alternative and put it into production around 1930. Combine Russell's cotton sweatshirt with Champion's hood and you have the garment we wear today.
When Were Hoodies Made Popular? From the Sidelines to the Streets
The 1940s–1960s: high schools and college campuses
Hoodies first spread through schools. Champion worked directly with high schools and universities, printing team names and mascots onto sweatshirts. Rolling Stone's history of the hoodie notes that athletes giving their sweatshirts to girlfriends helped carry the look from the playing field into everyday fashion, which may be the origin of the still-popular tradition of "stealing" a partner's hoodie. If that sounds familiar, you will like our ideas for matching hoodies for couples.
The 1970s: hip-hop, skaters and Rocky
So, when did hoodies become popular as fashion? Most historians point to the 1970s. In New York, the hoodie became part of the uniform of early hip-hop: b-boys, DJs and graffiti artists liked that it was warm, cheap, comfortable to move in and gave a little anonymity. On the West Coast, skateboarders and surfers adopted it for cold mornings at the beach and skate park. Then, in 1976, Sylvester Stallone trained in gray sweats in the film Rocky, running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the sweatshirt became a symbol of hard work and determination.
The 1980s and 1990s: designers, rappers and the word "hoodie"
In the 1980s, fashion designers began borrowing from sportswear, and college logo hoodies became a classic campus look. By the 1990s the hoodie was firmly established in streetwear. Rap groups wore them in music videos and on album covers, skate and surf brands printed bold graphics on them, and snowboarders layered them under jackets. This is also when the word "hoodie" arrived: dictionaries record it from 1990 and 1991, as slang for a hooded sweatshirt.
The 2000s: hoodies at work
The 2000s took the hoodie into offices. Tech entrepreneurs famously wore hoodies to meetings and presentations, turning a casual garment into a sign of a relaxed, creative work culture. Celebrities wore them on flights and off-duty, and zip-up hoodies became a staple of the decade's casual style.
The 2010s: luxury and meaning
In the 2010s, luxury fashion houses started selling designer hoodies at high prices, and oversized silhouettes took over. The hoodie also carried serious meaning: in 2012, after the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, people across the US wore hoodies at "Million Hoodie" marches to protest racial profiling. In 2017, the Museum of Modern Art in New York included the hoodie in its exhibition of the garments that shaped modern fashion.
Hoodies Today: Why We Still Love Them
Nearly a century after Champion added a hood to a sweatshirt, the hoodie is a true wardrobe essential. It is worn for workouts, school, travel, working from home and weekends, by every age group. A few reasons it has lasted so long:
- Comfort: soft fleece and a relaxed fit feel good all day.
- Warmth: a hood, pocket and ribbed cuffs keep heat in, perfect for November to March.
- Self-expression: the front and back of a hoodie are a canvas for graphics, slogans and art.
- Easy styling: hoodies go with jeans, joggers, skirts, leggings and even blazers. See our guide on how to wear oversized hoodies.
- Gifting: one size up or down rarely matters, which makes hoodies one of the easiest clothing gifts.
Our own hoodies follow the classic formula: a soft 50% cotton, 50% polyester heavy-blend fleece, a double-lined hood, a kangaroo pocket and bold artwork. Favorites include the Positive Vibes Ash Gray Hoodie ($52.99), the Retro Vinyl Turntable Hoodie ($52.99), the Galaxy Wolf Hoodie ($50.99) and the Malibu Beach Hoodie ($52.99). Browse them all in our hoodies collection.
The Holiday Hoodie: A Newer Tradition
One of the newest chapters in hoodie history is the holiday hoodie. The ugly Christmas sweater party went mainstream in the 2000s and 2010s, and many people now prefer a cozy hooded or crewneck sweatshirt to a scratchy knit. Festive graphic hoodies are warmer, easier to wash and comfortable enough to wear from tree decorating to Christmas morning. In our Christmas collection you will find the Christmas Lights Hoodie ($39.99), the Snowman Christmas Hoodie ($39.99), the Retro Merry Christmas Disco Ball Hoodie ($39.99) and the Vintage Santa North Pole Letter Hoodie ($39.99). Prefer no hood? Our Christmas sweatshirts start at $39.99 and our Christmas sweaters are $41.99. Add a pair of printed crew socks from our socks collection ($17.99) for an easy gift set, and order around Black Friday to beat the holiday rush.
Fun Facts About Hoodies
- The word "hoodie" is younger than the garment by about 60 years. It first appears in print around 1990.
- Before 1990, "hoodie" was a nickname for the hooded crow, a gray-and-black bird.
- The first hooded sweatshirts were made for cold-storage warehouse workers as well as athletes.
- Champion's Reverse Weave cut the fabric on the cross-grain to stop sweatshirts shrinking lengthwise in the wash.
- The front pouch is nicknamed the kangaroo pocket.
- The hoodie was chosen for a 2017 MoMA exhibition about the garments that shaped modern fashion.
Want to keep yours looking new? Read our guides on how to wash and shrink a hoodie and how to fold hoodies.
Frequently Asked Questions About the History of Hoodies
When were hoodies invented?
Hoodies were invented in the 1930s in the United States. Champion is widely credited with making the first hooded sweatshirts.
Who invented hoodies?
Champion, founded in Rochester, New York in 1919 as Knickerbocker Knitting Mills by the Feinbloom family, is credited with inventing the hooded sweatshirt for athletes and workers.
When did hoodies become popular?
Hoodies became popular as everyday fashion in the 1970s and 1980s through hip-hop, skate culture, college style and films like Rocky, then exploded in 1990s streetwear.
When did hoodies come out?
The first hooded sweatshirts came out in the 1930s. The word "hoodie" came out much later, around 1990.
Why were hoodies made?
To keep people warm. They were designed for athletes waiting on cold sidelines and for laborers working in freezing warehouses and outdoors.
What is the difference between a hoodie and a sweatshirt?
A hoodie is a sweatshirt with a hood. "Sweatshirt" usually refers to a crewneck pullover without a hood.
Write the Next Chapter in Your Own Hoodie
From monks' cowls to football benches to holiday parties, the hoodie has come a long way. Find your next favorite in our hoodies collection, or give a cozy gift from our Christmas collection this season.
About the author: Socks That Pop designs bold printed socks, hoodies, tees and more for people who like their wardrobe with personality.
