A Brief History of the Sweatshirt

The sweatshirt (or simply ‘sweat’) was created by Benjamin Russell in 1926. The Russel Corporation was founded in Alabama in 1902. The company began by producing undergarments for both men and women.

Benjamin had a son, Bertie, who began playing football at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Bertie complained to his father about the football shirts These woolen shirts caused itchiness when they became damp which in turn caused discomfort for the football players.

Bertie came-up with the idea of using the underwear garment material as football shirts. Being familiar with the garments created at the factory Bertie told his father that this would make excellent football shirts. Benjamin decided to give it a go and history was in the making.

The new shirts went down very well with the Alabama football players and word quickly spread to other clubs, helped by Bertie’s marketing efforts..

Benjamin saw the potential and encouraged Bertie to identify further markets for the lighter, softer material. Bertie found willing customers in athletics clubs and the baseball world and production expanded to satisfy the new orders.

{The Russell company was able to become the preferred sports shirt supply company by forming Russell Athletic in 1932.|In response to this success the Russell company formed Russell Athletic, an athletics association in 1932 establishing Russell as the preferred athletics shirt supplier

The sweatshirt stepped beyond the world of track teams and baseball clubs becoming an ubiquitous high-street clothing item with attention from major design labels such as G Star Sweat.