A Love Letter To Fleece
Written by Michael Caruso
Boston has been miserably cold these past few weeks. Nothing is more demoralizing than seeing the high temperature is 35 degrees on a Monday in November. However, it's not all bad. One of my favorite reasons for living in the bitter cold northeast is the opportunity to show off my extensive outerwear collection for six glorious months. The windchill will not stop me from getting these fits off. Over the past several winters, I consistently found myself buying and wearing more and more fleece. In an era when jackets seem to be getting bigger, longer and puffier, what is it about fleece that has allowed it to transcend your family ski trip in Vermont to the most popular streetwear sub-cultures?
Let me begin my dichotomy of fleece with its humble origins. Many people do not realize Massachusetts is the home to the company Polartec, which created the first fleece fabric in the late 1970s. At the time, Polartec operated under the name Malden Mills and was working in collaboration with Patagonia, a small outdoors equipment manufacturer. According to Patagonia, they were looking for an inexpensive, lightweight wool alternative. The result was Synchilla, short for synthetic chinchilla, a fabric still used by Patagonia to this day. As development on the fabric continued into the 1990s, Patagonia experimented with making fleece out of recyclable and organic materials. This makes fleece both an environmentally conscious and vegan choice. Before long, Polartec fleece helped launch Patagonia into the mainstream, forcing competing outdoors brands to follow suit. L.L. Bean did everything they could to integrate Polartec fleece into their winter offerings but they could never quite match Patagonia’s craftsmanship and style. In 1995, The North Face began selling its Denali fleece jacket: a staple for everyday American style over a decade. Fleece was now more than just a technical garment; it was a product for the masses.
The initial popularity of fleece made perfect sense. The product is lighter and a better insulator than wool. Additionally, fleece is water-resistant, unlike wool. For those who love the outdoors, this made a great alternative to heavier, bulkier coats when skiing or hiking. Fleece was marketed as a middle layer to insulate body heat when wrapped in an outer shell. For the fashion-forward, fleece was a unique take on how we brace the winter while waiting for the T on Huntington Avenue. As typical for many technical garments, fleece has become popular by being worn improperly as an outermost layer. Another example of a fashion exaptation is winter scarves, which the finance major in your NUpath class gently drapes around his neck for the sake of showing off Burberry’s iconic print. Just because a garment is being worn differently than intended it does not make it inherently wrong.
The fabric’s influence on streetwear is undeniable as fleece jackets are regularly styled in look books from veteran brands like Stussy to newer faces such as Noah NYC. Recently, fleece has even reached Paris fashion houses Balenciaga and Louis Vuitton Menswear under the direction of Virgil Abloh. This is a direct result of American streetwear influencing some of the biggest stages in Menswear. Some may choose to argue fleece elevated Patagonia into a streetwear subculture of its own. Exhibit A: the Patagonia Snap T, which has been sported by arbiters of streetwear Shia Le Bouf and A$AP Rocky. Patagonia Synchilla was even once given the ultimate streetwear stamp of approval: a Supreme exploit. In 1999, Supreme copied the brand's iconic logo of the Andes mountain range and replaced it with the NYC skyline. Supreme donned the logo on a Polartec fleece pullover, which has become one of the most sought-after archival pieces from the brand to date.
My love for fleece comes from how practical it makes these frigid Boston winters. Its liquid resistance protects me from getting stains from $4 coffee. Wearing it in layers allows me to adapt as the temperature rises during the day. Designers today are seeing how versatile fleece is by adding their unique flair to it. One of my season favorites has to be the Sandy Liang Unisex Checkers Fleece Jacket, which has denim jacket style button closures on the front and a leopard trim. If you’re looking for a more timeless style, Patagonia’s Retro and Retro X fleece are great for anyone looking to work fleece into their daily winter wardrobe. As always, sustainability is important, and your local thrift shop most likely has some great fleece jackets to experiment with. Personally, I’ll be sticking to my Aimé Leon Dore zip-up fleece seen below, which I can only imagine matches the Pantone color of “cookie monster”. With so much diversity in fleece jackets today, find the one that fits your individual style. Please remember that this is nothing personal against the big coat movement, but rather an opportunity to bask in this golden era of the fleece. The next time you’re staring at your wardrobe deciding how to conquer the cold, Massachusetts-born fleece just might be the way to go.
