Upstate New York Is the Birthplace Of This Iconic Article of Clothing

New York State is home to the biggest, best, the famous and the firsts. For examples, New York City is the biggest city in America, we have the best baseball team in history, Tom Cruise was born in Syracuse and the potato chip was first created in Saratoga.

Here's another first I'll bet you didn't know. Recently I saw an Instagram video claiming that one certain clothing item, worn by millions of Americas every day, was invented in Upstate New York. Any guesses?

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In 1919 the Knickerbocker Knitting Company started a sportswear business in Rochester, NY. By 1926 the company teamed with Wentworth Military Academy to design the school's uniforms and in 1934 Knickerbocker were the first to create college apparel including the very first HOODIE!

This Instagram post by the Iron Snail Clothing Company goes further to say the first hoodies were designed with those working outdoors in Upstate New York in mind. They also reveal that Knickerbocker went on to change their name to Champion.

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A post shared by The Iron Snail (@theironsnail)

Champion states that the hoodie was designed for practical reasons as a warm up garment for athletes to wear in-between game time or practice sessions. Based on the info in the video above, the prototype hoodie was called an "after-hood" because the hood was added to a crewneck after.

Champion's reverse weave hoodie was exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) as part of the exhibition 'Items: Is Fashion Modern?' which displayed fashion items that have had a strong impact on modern society.