Hooded or hoodless, sweatshirts are a comfortable piece of clothing apparel that pairs well with any type of sports or athleisure item. Sweatshirts are a versatile piece of clothing that provides you with warmth so you can enjoy some time outside on a chilly evening. There are various styles of sweatshirts to choose from which can be combined with jeans, khakis, chinos, and pants as well as boots, and sneakers too.

These styles vary from hoodies that look as fancy as a cashmere sweater to ones that you can easily wear over a blazer. You can wear multiple layers of clothing with sweatshirts and still feel comfortable whilst looking casual. The sweatshirt is truly a universal clothing piece which became possible thanks to one brand that entered the modern streetwear scene as of recently, Russel Athletic.

The synonymous "Eagle R" logo that the company has had for more than a century now, has started to move onto sportswear. Russell sportswear clothing pieces and workout apparel such as swim shorts, long shorts and trackpants can be seen with that same "Eagle R" logo. The company seems to be going back to its roots in a more contemporary fashion without sacrificing on their heritage for the sake of popularity. Rusell Athletic's heritage line is resurfacing with major collaborations and involvement in the streetwear scene too.

Whilst Russell sportswear apparel isn't something completely new, their entrance in the streetwear world is. Although Russel Athletic has been making clothing pieces that provide comfort and versatility, when it comes to the style of today's modern youth-oriented street fashion, the company is still new to this. But they have been able to pull off their streetwear apparel the simple way, by having bold iterations of their "Eagle R" logo and minimalistic ones too. With a little bit of a 90s touch, the streetwear Russel apparel has created can easily be paired with their sportswear pieces if one desires to do so.

Being known as the "inventors" of the sweatshirt, Russel Athletic is a brand that started in 1902 Alexander City, Alabama. Although their iconic logo mentioned above came 4 years after the company was founded the quality and appeal of the brand's clothing pieces was top notch to say the least from the get-go. The logo solidified the brand's identity and defined how America both looks and plays. All this happened thanks to one man, Benjamin Russell. The 26-year-old started with only 10 sewing and 8 knitting machines which at the time would produce 150 garments in one day. The 1920s and 30s were the golden ages for Russell Athletic as this was the time when the sweatshirt was invented, 1926 to be exact.

Benjamin was the man responsible for that and together with his father he made the idea of a garment that wouldn't make him itchy after a sweaty football practise, a reality. By the 60s the company had the largest athletic division in the US, producing sports apparel ad uniforms too. Despite changing its name twice over the course of two decades, in 1983 the brand became the official uniform supplier of Little League Baseball and Softball.

By the end of the 80s, the company had a growth of over 3,800 employees which topped the companies number of employees over 10,000. This trend continued as well as the popularity of Russell Athletic. During the 90s the company was already influencing the streetwear culture whilst it became the official supplier of uniforms of the NFL and Major League Baseball.

Whilst we already know who got the idea of the sweatshirt and how he got it, the story behind how it became so popular is a different one. Whilst 1926 was the year the sweatshirt was first made it took nearly 50 years for this versatile clothing piece to gain its widespread popularity.

Throughout the years sweatshirts were only worn by professional sportsmen and although the benefits from one were noticeable the acceptance wasn't there. The general public was still wearing tight-neck shirts and long trousers but that changed in the 70s. During the jogging craze of this decade, wearing matching sweatshirts and pants (sweat pants) was the ideal outfit when burning some calories in the open.

The introduction of, at the time, high-tech materials for better insulation and comfort also contributed to the popularity of sweatshirts. During the 80s the sweatshirt entered the high fashion scene thanks to Norma Kamali, a designer that started the hoodie trend amongst females.

From the 90s and on, sweatshirts started being synonymous for groups or squads as young people call them today. Whilst this was happening mostly on the hip-hop scene the use of hoodies and sweatshirts to portray a group transitioned to other industries. Today, the sweatshirt is seen as something that everyone needs no matter if you are in school or a retirement home. This both iconic and universal garment blends with every clothing piece without sacrificing on its key features.