16 Luxury Hoodies Brands Making The Highest Quality Sweats
These luxury labels have elevated the humble hoodie from slouchy loungewear staple to something that can be worn everywhere and for any occasion.
Hoodies these days are ubiquitous. They’re everywhere. Round up a group of 10 people at random in any populated area of the Western world, and chances are at least one or two of them will be wearing one. But hoodies haven’t always been universally popular. There was a time when they were vilified by the press and heavily associated with feral youths engaging in antisocial behavior. If you’re old enough to remember those times then the concept of a ‘luxury hoodie’ might seem like something of an oxymoron.
Well, welcome to the future, Grandpa. Because here in the 2020s, luxury hoodies are a big thing. Today, every historic high-fashion house, louche Italian stealth-wealth label and upscale wardrobe basics brand worth their salt is making a pimped-out hooded sweat. In fact, some will charge well into the thousands for their uber-fancy cashmere versions.
If you’re the sort of guy who likes to be up to speed with the general direction of contemporary menswear, a luxury hoodie is definitely something you should have in your wardrobe. But how exactly do you define ‘luxury’? How much should you really be spending? And who is making the best options? Keep scrolling to find out all of this and more.
What makes a hoodie ‘luxury’?
Fabric
Aurelien
The average hoodie is cut from cheap, fleece-backed jersey cotton. Nothing special. It’s inexpensive, comfortable and does the job adequately. But if you want to step things up a bit and experience a softer, more premium hand feel, you’ll have to spend a bit more.
Luxury hoodies tend to be made from better quality, softer and perhaps more durable fabric. Once you start paying a little more, you’ll start to see materials like French terry, cashmere and even just higher-quality jersey cotton. Whether this little touch of luxury is worth the extra money or not is entirely subjective.
Production
L’Estrange
While it’s not true in all cases, a vast majority of luxury hoodies are made in reputable factories, in areas known for textiles, that pay their workers fairly. Instead of being made as cheaply as possible in China, Vietnam or Bangladesh, production might take place in Italy, Portugal, the USA or the UK. This isn’t to say that clothes made in the aforementioned places are inherently bad, but the cost of labor is much lower, products are often mass-produced and the working standards can be poor in comparison.
Luxury hoodies made in places like Italy tend to be created in much smaller batches, which often translates into greater attention to detail and overall quality. Add to that the country’s fashion heritage and reputation for style, and you can see why they might command a higher price.
That said, a lot of the time with luxury hoodies, you’re paying for the brand. Remember, this is where the likes of Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Burberry really make their money. So don’t be surprised to drop hundreds on a hoodie only to find ‘Made in China’ printed on the label.
Details
L’Estrange
Anyone who has hung about in the menswear world for long enough will know that real quality is all in the details. It’s the little things that really elevate a garment to that next level.
A luxury hoodie might include details like noticeably high-quality stitching (maybe some of the seams are bound), premium hardware (think metal end caps on drawstrings and the like), or embroidered graphics instead of cheap screen prints.
Fit
L’Estrange
If you’re dropping a large sum on something as basic as a hoodie, the fit needs to be immaculate. If it’s anything but, what’s the point?
Hoodies can be slightly boxy and oversized, sure. But for this sort of money, it shouldn’t be hanging awkwardly off you. Even if the shoulder seams are deliberately dropped, it should still fit well in terms of length and body.
As a general rule of thumb, the shoulder seams should sit on or just below the hinge of the shoulder, the hem should fall a couple of inches below the waist, and the sleeves should end just below the wrists.
Fashion cachet
Gucci
OK, let’s address the elephant in the room. Obviously, there’s a point of diminishing returns when it comes to the price of a hoodie. It’s simply impossible to justify a $500/£500+ price tag on something as basic as a hoodie, no matter how nicely it’s stitched or where it was made. The fact of the matter is that whoever made it is charging a colossal markup. But why?
In a word: clout. With a lot of high-end hoodies, you’re paying for the name as much as you’re paying for the garment itself. Luxury fashion brands like Gucci and LV can charge exorbitant amounts for big-logo hoodies because people want to be seen in them.
If you’re one of those people, that’s fine. But if not, it’s worth remembering that you can get the same or better in terms of quality for significantly less if you buy from a smaller artisan brand.
The Best Luxury Hoodie Brands For Men
Luca Faloni
Luca Faloni takes the best traditions and craftspeople that Italian menswear can muster (and it’s not a bad talent pool) and applies them to a modern-classic wardrobe. Its hoodies are fashioned from pure cashmere or a silk-cashmere blend, which makes them ludicrously, luxuriously soft to the touch, and comfortable to boot.
It’s a sports-luxe design, fitted through the body and featuring sleeves based on high-end polo shirts. They’re designed to mold to your body with wear.
Aurelien
Making Italian luxury accessible is something of a mission for Aurelien, a direct-to-consumer label that cuts out the middleman to offer more reasonable prices. Its hoodies are designed for sophisticated slothfulness.
Cut slim and made from a soft cotton toweling fabric, they work for idle poolside resortwear or easy summer layering.
Sunspel
We’re big fans of upscale British basics brand Sunspel and its refined wardrobe essentials. It’s always a solid option for things like tees, underwear, shirts and knits, and it makes some excellent sweats and hoodies too.
There are a few different tiers to choose from, starting at $215/£165 for the label’s basic loopback cotton version. You can also go for a zip-up version featuring a two-way zipper, a merino version, a toweling one, an insulated fleece-backed one, or even cashmere.
The cashmere hoodie is $745/£695 and is made by one of Scotland’s oldest spinners, using the finest 100% cashmere fabric.
Brunello Cucinelli
If you thought $745/£695 was steep for a pure cashmere hoodie, you may want to skip past the next couple of entries. Brunello Cucinelli, often referred to as the ‘King of Cashmere’, is known for his namesake brand’s ultra high-end yet tastefully subtle soft tailoring and casualwear. Think louche double-breasted jackets, premium fine-gauge knits and sumptuous cashmere hoodies, all handmade in the brand’s native Italy.
Brace yourself: a plain cotton hoodie will set you back an eye-watering $730/£580, while a cashmere one might set you back anywhere up to $4,500/£3,000. There’s a reason this is one of the quiet luxury brands championed by the type of people who count their net worth in billions.
Loro Piana
There’s only really one company that can compete with Brunello Cucinelli in terms of the sheer absurdity of its prices, and that is fellow Italian label Loro Piana. Another brand famous for cashmere and other fine fabrics (some of the rarest and most luxurious in the world), Loro Piana is huge on quality and small on gaudy visible branding, earning itself a reputation as another of the big ‘old money’ brands to know.
You’ll need some seriously deep pockets if you fancy a luxury hoodie from the brand. The average price is around the £1,250/£1,000 mark, and they can go much higher for ultra-high-end cashmere and silk blends. Don’t be surprised to see some costing $2,500/£2,000 and above.
Derek Rose
When you think of fancy clothes, it’s probably the stuff meant to be worn out of the house that first comes to mind, but Derek Rose is a brand designed to bring a touch of luxury to your downtime too. The British label specializes in high-end pajamas and loungewear, including some rather nice sweats.
Derek Rose only currently offers zip-up hoodies, so if you’re after a pullover you’ll have to take your search elsewhere. There are a couple of different fabric options available, including textured terry cotton and regular fleece-backed cotton, with prices starting at $325/£210 and fetching up to $925/£499.
L’Estrange
London-based L’Estrange is all about elevated essentials. It takes wardrobe basics and refines them to the nth degree to create pieces that are even more versatile, high quality and long-lasting. The idea is to enable men to do more with less – i.e. you don’t need as many pieces in your wardrobe if the pieces you do have are well made and work with everything.
Take the brand’s signature garment, The Hood, for example. It’s a classic cotton hoodie, available in both zip and pullover options, but it’s designed with the influence of tailoring behind it. The attention to detail is more akin to a suit jacket than a piece of sportswear or loungewear, making this the sort of hoodie you could just as easily pair with tailored pants as you could shorts and sneakers.
Zegna
Founded in 1910, Italian luxury label Zegna has come to be known for its craftsmanship, quality of its materials and high-end tailoring. But Zegna’s range doesn’t end with beautifully made Italian suits – there’s plenty of upscale casualwear to be found too.
Zegna’s hoodies are simple and understated, but not at the expense of quality. You can expect to pay anywhere from $630/£500 to $2,500/£2,000, and what you’ll get for that rather lofty price is high-end Italian manufacture, the highest quality materials and a soft, luxurious hand feel. Not a big logo or graphic print in sight.
Gucci
Remember when we talked about high-fashion brands charging insane markups for logo hoodies? Well, Gucci is one of the prime offenders. Still, that doesn’t stop the Italian haute couture house’s hoodies from flying off the shelves, given that there are a lot of people out there who want to be seen in the label, whatever the cost.
Gucci offers a range of different styles of hoodies, almost all of them featuring some sort of logo design. You can expect to pay somewhere around the $1,000/£800 mark for a Made-in-Italy hoodie featuring the iconic Gucci logo, and a lot more if you want one made from high-end materials like cashmere.
Burberry
Burberry is another luxury fashion brand that has capitalized on the trend of high-fashion hoodies. Despite going through a rocky patch in the 2000s and 2010s, the British label is back on form and more popular than ever.
Styles range from simple monogram designs to eye-catching all-over print options featuring the iconic Burberry check pattern. Again, a hoodie like one of these will likely cost you $1,000/£800 or more, with most garments being manufactured at the brand’s factory in Portugal.
Acne Studios
Sweden’s Acne Studios mixes that trademark Scandi minimalism with a knack for offbeat silhouettes, quirky branding and fashion-forward design elements. At the less adventurous end of the brand’s offering, you’ll find a selection of tastefully oversized hoodies featuring low-key branding and muted neutral colors.
Acne Studios’ hoodies start around $315/£250, and they’re often cut quite boxy and cropped in the body with dropped shoulders and oversized sleeves. There are more conventional fits available too. If that’s more your style, look for anything featuring the brand’s face logo patch, as this stuff tends to have more of a classic slim-fit shape.
Fear of God
Los Angeles-born label Fear of God helped to popularise the longline, oversized look that dominated menswear during much of the 2010s. Whether that is something to be proud of or not is up for debate, but what is certain is that the label makes hoodies, and lots of them.
Fear of God Essentials is the brand’s hugely popular diffusion line, but while the products are in high demand, they’re not the highest quality. If you want a proper luxury hoodie from Jerry Lorenzo’s iconic marque, you’ll want to stick to the mainline stuff.
Expect dropped shoulders, cropped fits, dusty neutral colorways and Made-in-USA manufacture.
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren and its various sub-brands are hard to beat when it comes to preppy casual basics, collegiate-inspired sportswear and Americana essentials. There are plenty of options from Polo, which incorporate the brand’s instantly recognizable polo-player logo, or you could drop a bit more money and get something slightly more luxurious from the brand’s RRL collection.
While Polo is known for prep, RRL is all about heritage workwear and old-school American cool. Think western shirts, selvage denim and, weirdly, hoodies. RRL makes a handful of hooded sweats featuring subtle graphic prints and not-so-subtle logos, all hovering around the $300/£230 price mark.
Unfortunately, the vast majority are not made in the USA, which you’d probably expect them to be, but if that doesn’t bother you then you’ll likely have no complaints.
Stone Island
Italian luxury sportswear label Stone Island is best known for its highly influential outerwear, which over the years has pushed the boundaries of design, dyeing techniques and materials. Cool jackets aside, the label also quite literally puts its badge on everything from jeans and joggers to T-shirts and hoodies.
Stone Island’s hoodies vary in styles from season to season and year to year, but there are always a number of options featuring graphic prints, and many more bearing the brand’s iconic compass logo patch to the arm. If you want to go even more luxurious, check out the Shadow Project line.
C.P. Company
Before Stone Island, founder Massimo Osti launched his first menswear brand, C.P. Company. The label came to be known for its innovative outerwear, most notably the Mille Miglia goggle jacket, which featured a pair of perspex lenses stitched into a flap on the front of the hood. These lenses have since become a big part of C.P. Company’s visual identity, and are something it now slaps on pretty much everything – even its hoodies.
Many of C.P. Company’s hoodies feature goggles sewn into the hood just like on the high-end jackets. Failing that, a lot of them feature a single circular logo lens on the left sleeve.
Expect to pay around $315/£250 and up.
James Perse
Low-key luxury doesn’t have to cost Loro Piana or Brunello Cucinelli prices. Californian label James Perse offers up similarly understated casual staples – albeit in slightly less opulent (but still very nice) materials – at much more affordable prices. Think immaculate fits, no tacky branding, upscale materials and tasteful, versatile colors.
There’s no shortage of luxury hoodies to choose from, ranging from terry cotton zip-throughs to heavy thermal raglans. There are even some premium knitted options, featuring luxurious recycled cashmere fabric, coming in at around $595/£680.
