A collarless, long-sleeved pullover, originally made of a fleeced cotton was introduced in 1925 by underwear manufacturer Russell Athletics as a lightweight alternative to men's wool football practice jerseys. In the 1930s, Champion added a front zipper and varsity lettering, a style later known as a hoodie. Universities began placing their logo on the front of sweatshirts in the 1960s and by the 1970s, Champion added sweatpants and the sweatsuit became the uniform for the jogging craze. In 1983, American designer Norma Kamali created her famous Sweatshirt Collection using sweatshirt fabric for a line of nonathletic womenswear. The oversized sweatshirt was adopted as part of the hip-hop look by the 1990s and continues to be part of the subculture of the fashion industry in all of its iterations.
Historical Dictionary of the Fashion Industry. Francesca Sterlacci and Joanne Arbuckle.