Over the years, Matrushka has showcased its devotion to the hood. In the shop, in the online boutique, and on the runway, Matrushka shares this love with those who wear the brand’s elegantly unconventional style.
On a dress or on a hoodie, Matrushka has refined the art of the hood. But whether you wear a hood for warmth, for style, or to make a serious statement, hoods represent something far beyond just a type of head covering.
The hood bears a long and rich history, not without controversy. With depictions that span many centuries, the hood has adorned the heads of everyone from reverent monks and ancient Romans to clandestine lovers in the 1600s. The ancient Celts are also associated with hooded cloaks, only serving to enhance their mystery and lore.
The Hoodie
Hoods have been around for millennia, but remain distinct from the hooded sweatshirts we affectionately know as hoodies. The first hooded sweatshirts were made in the 1930s, to keep athletes and warehouse workers warm. According to Rolling Stone, it was when high school athletes gave their sweatshirts to their girlfriends that hoodies grew to become a true fashion icon.
Reliable and familiar, the hoodie has also stood the test of time, meanwhile unveiling much about our society and the immediate need for it to evolve. It may also be one of the most misunderstood garments in your closet, despite its multiple iterations over so many centuries.
Representing everything from academic achievement to powerful protest, today’s hoodie stands true as an emblem of the noble fight for justice and support, counted by the millions.
Who doesn’t love a great hoodie? Function meets design in this familiar and beloved article of clothing that happens to carry a lot of power. You’ve probably purged your wardrobe a time or two, but it’s likely your favorite hoodie endured many of these cycles.
I remember a hoodie I owned and wore proudly all through my punk years: patches stitched everywhere and the edge of the hood spiked and framing my face with safety pins. Fast forward to last year, when I was handfasted to my partner. My gown also had a hood.
Can we agree that hoodies are fascinatingly charged objects of clothing, for so very many reasons? Let’s start with its pure utility and fashion sensibility.
Hood as Accessory
As stylin’ protection from chilly weather, you can cozy up with the hood over your head to make both a statement and a gesture of pro-self-care. And, you don’t ever, ever have to worry about losing a hat in said chill.
Another choice is to wear it draped elegantly at your back and neck, as in a faux cowl (we’ve seen Matrushka owner Laura Howe rock this look a time or two).
Still, some might prefer the casual wrapped-around-the hips option when things start to heat up. One needs a convenient place to keep one’s hoodie, after all.
Matrushka’s contribution to the fashionable hood is not small. From the iconic Octopus Hoodie (among many others) to a collection of way-wearable dresses with hoods, Matrushka has done us all a great service.
Zipped, unzipped, or no zip, the hoodie is here to stay. But there’s another side to this clothing staple.
Hoodie History
Hoodie popularity and meaning have depended on who’s looking.
After the brutal slaying of Trayvon Martin in 2012, whose murder was blamed on Martin’s choice of clothing that day, it was clear that wearing a hoodie takes on a different connotation when you are also a young black man.
In response, protesters donned their hoodies to make a powerful statement for justice in New York City’s Million Hoodie March, with countless others doing the same around the nation.
For decades prior, the hoodie had a reputation for rebellious youth. From the punk scene and hip hop movement to skater culture and graffiti artists, the hoodie was an edgy, relatively cheap article of clothing that encompassed shared values. There were times when the hoodie was worn by kids who were up to no good, developing a reputation for a youth culture whose concealed identities served a certain purpose.
Parts of society may find something threatening about hoodies, even banning them in places. But it’s clear that the events of the recent past have redeemed the hoodie and restored it back to its place in our closets, all while continuing to bring people together for positive change.
And so, despite its shrouded past, years of controversy, and multiple wash cycles, the hoodie never falls out of style. Matrushka has been here all the while, with an aim to keep elevating this outsider fashion symbol and make it accessible to everybody.