The Best Sweatshirt Brands On Earth (According To Esquire Editors)
You want the best. And heck, you deserve the best. But there's a lot of choice out there, and sometimes the best is hard to find. Fortunately, we know where to find it. Every week, the Esquire editors reveal their favourite brands, from under-the-radar steals to luxury loves, so you can invest in the best clothes, watches and accessories that money can buy.
This week, the staple no menswear diet should be without: sweatshirts.
Acne Studios
Finlay Renwick, deputy style editor
"I recently acquired an Acne Studios jumper. By acquired, what I really mean is I spent too much money at Matches on an Acne Studios jumper because I am going slowly mad spending all my time indoors, distracting myself through conspicuous consumption.
"At first I was met with buyer's remorse: did I really just spend that on a sweatshirt? Then, buyer's – what's the opposite of remorse? Pride? Because what a purchase it has turned out to be. It is heavy and sage green, with a thick crewneck and an oversized silhouette with just the right amount of washed-out effect and slouchy arms. I have a friend who says she aspires to get all her basics from Acne. I used to think she was an idiot. Now I totally get it. Help."
Uniqlo
Dan Choppen, fashion assistant
"The sweatshirt is surprisingly easy to get wrong in menswear, but Uniqlo has the the magic formula. French terry fabric is thick enough to feel substantial (with a reinforced herringbone tape, of course), and yet still slim enough to be layered into weekly fits.
"It's testament to Uniqlo's skill at basics – real, reliable basics that fit properly. I go slightly oversized, with a vintage-inspired boxy(ish). Whether its a collaboration with JW Anderson, Roger Federer or the core collection, Uniqlo works for me."
Ami
Murray Clark, digital style editor
"School uniforms seemed like the height of scholastic oppression: stiff, formal, two sizes too big for the growth spurt that never came. But this wasn't quite the case at my beloved Wolfreton Secondary, in which laissez-faire sweatshirts were on the menu, a small embroidered crest to the chest: it was comfortable, and relatively cool all things considered.
"I've still got the uniform. Except now, in my adult years, I'm enrolled at Ami: an ascendant French label that decks out the humble sweatshirt with its signature love heart logo, letting me live out my salad days once more at St Ami's School for Surly Chain-Smoking Parisian Kids. Still comfortable, but much, much cooler."
Levi's Vintage Clothing
Charlie Teasdale, style director
"It’s mad that one of the biggest global fashion brands has a mini sub-brand that reissues pieces in the company archive, based on a specific time in cultural history, but that’s exactly what Levi’s Vintage Clothing does. Spring/Summer 2020 is based on a soap box derby that happened in San Francisco in 1975, and the collection before took inspiration from the street style of New York’s Greenwich Village in the Sixties.
"Season to season, the references vary, but the common thread is the build-quality of the clothing. LVC uses the best cottons, denims and construction that Levi’s has mustered over its 140-year history, which is why their sweatshirts are so good. I have two – one in dusty pink, one in mustard yellow – and both are exact replicas of Levi’s Bay Meadows sweatshirt, which first appeared in the Thirties. As you can see from the above, it’s cut a little shorter in the body with a wider rib at the hem and ‘saddle’ sleeved, which allows for supreme comfort."
Sasquatchfabrix
Tom Banham, digital editor
"I used to think there was something slightly grotesque about buying new clothes that looked old. It felt somehow offensive in a world defined by waste. And in the main, I still do, but Sasquatchfabrix gets a pass. It's a Japanese brand that crafts forward-thinking streetwear with traditional techniques – think fleecy kimono-style jackets and Shibori tie-dyed bowling shirts. Its sweatshirts come off the rack looking lived-in; paint-spattered, ragged-sleeved, sun-faded. They are, to my mind, beautiful pieces of living art.
"For me, they embody the Japanese idea of wabi-sabi; the inherbeauty in ageing and imperfection (or as the brand puts it: "high-performance vandalism". There are those who might think that this is a form of cheating, spending money as a shortcut to authentic wear. But that misses the point. These sweatshirts are about wear used as a creative force – instead of a screen-print, its designers have applied time."
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