The Return of the Zip Hoodie

Good news: Zip hoodies aren’t just for dorks anymore.

It’s been 20 or so years since American Apparel made the zip hoodie a slutty status symbol for the then emergent class of hipsters. Before long, Mark Zuckerberg came along, cloaking his plutocratic aspirations in the humble garment and transforming it into a symbol of proto start-up bro. Zip hoodies have been engulfed by the stench of the unaesthetic aughts ever since.

Accordingly, it’s not the indie sleaze revival or streetwear watch-guy Zuck that has brought the zip back.The real reasons for trends and specific items of clothing spinning through the popularity cycle are hard to pinpoint. I might ascribe it to the collective consciousness that links all people at all times. But it isn’t merely the passing of time. People often say that all fashion trends are cyclical in nature—that pants will get baggy, then skinny, then baggy again, on a predetermined schedule. But that’s only true when it’s true, which is only some of the time. Lots of things come and go, then never come back again. And lots of things come and go and are awful when they come back.

Taste is roving and unpredictable. I find that mine is constantly evolving and adapting to my life and experiences. Some designs are timeless, but taste is not—nor can you wedge your taste into a timeless box. The eye wants a refresh every once in a while. This is most obvious when you look at the trends in the biggest design markets: classic cars, watches, furniture, and art. There will always be some era or movement within the market that is considered out of touch with the moment, timeless or not. Smart speculators will sniff out shifting tides in taste before the rest of the market does and capitalize on them. Inevitably, the unwanted eras will become the most coveted, and the cycle continues.

For the last 15 eras or so, the zip hoodie, to me, was an undesirable garment. I went in deep on pullover hoodies. In that time span, I probably came into possession of nearly one hundred of them. Like so many others (many reviewing them on Instagram), I became a pullover expert. I located the best one I could find on planet Earth and hung out with the guy who made it. People still ask me about that story all the time—mostly hoping I can help them find their size. (Soon I’ll have to do a follow-up.)

Then something changed. This fall, I wound up with three very good zip hoodies. One from Evan Kinori’s ongoing collaboration with Lady White, which is my go-to layering piece right now. Another from Our Legacy’s ongoing collaboration with Stüssy—this one is thick and sponge-y, and more like outerwear. And the third is just a simple midnight hoodie from the good-times skate brand Dime, which is basic and sturdy and comes in the perfect shade of natural. I am also busting out my super-heavy Camber thermal-lined Arctic zip hoodie for when I want to look tough at the farmers market on chilly mornings. Now I’m seeing good ones everywhere I look. JJJJound just put out its oversized J2000 zip hoodie in navy, which makes me think I could do a whole column on navy soon. And the extremely IYKYKl emerging label Seekinamour (which makes me think I could do a whole column on clothes from Tyrol, a new menswear hotspot in the Alps, soon) quietly released a sweatsuit with a zip hoodie that I’m currently wishing I was cool enough to get my hands on (unfortunately, it hasn’t made its way to the brand’s webshop yet).

So here we are, a place I never thought we’d be again: wearing jeans, Vans, and zip hoodies. Welcome to Donald Trump’s America 2.0. At least you won’t mess up your hair when you put it on and take it off.