From The M Train To Mr. Fong’s, We Can’t Stop Seeing Corseted Hoodies Everywhere

I found myself, like many New Yorkers might, out on a recent weekday in lower Manhattan for a friend’s birthday party. On the way from the F train to Mr. Fong’s, I spotted a Gen Z fashion girl from down the block wearing a zip-up hoodie refit with a corset. Then, halfway through my first martini outside the bar, another woman walked by in a cinched, cropped sweatshirt with an extra-large head covering. I chalked it up to sheer coincidence until a third corseted hoodie presented itself to me on the subway (this time, the M) home.

The corseted hoodie first made its high-fashion debut in 2023 with some key endorsements from Dion Lee, Mugler’s collab with H&M, and Bad Bunny’s bespoke Coachella look, also by Mugler. But why are the streets telling me that, a year later, the craze is still going strong? My gut instinct tells me that Charli XCX, the unofficial queen of summer 2024, might have something to do with it.

For her Partygirl DJ sets in Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro, Charli wore a bespoke pair of corseted hoodies both crafted by streetwear couture maverick Timothy Gibbons, an Irish designer who has also outfitted pop culture phenoms Ice Spice and Caroline Polachek. Gibbons’ creations for Charli have laced-up sides for maximum cinching, lots of crystals, and ugly-yet-fun colors like teal and periwinkle. The body-con trend has since drifted to retailers like PrettyLittleThing and Forever 21, where you can pick up a ribbed-panel version for as little as $13.

While Charli’s participation in, well, anything right now would automatically make it cool — even if Brat fatigue is setting in — the corseted hoodie’s power might lie in its intrinsic chimera-ness. The hoodie is the paramount sign of comfort, while the corset is the complete opposite, so by meshing the two, designers offer a semblance of dressing up without giving up the cozy cotton usually saved for airport looks. This juxtaposition, combined with Charli’s undeniable staying power and the zeitgeist’s ability to hold onto a key style, may explain the corseted hoodies I keep spotting. Shop our picks below.