They’re everywhere, once you start looking. On pop stars working with conversation-starter stylists: Addison Rae in a hipstercore American Apparel-coded purple zip-up (styled by Dara for her Headphones On video), or Lorde in a minimalist grey version adorned with brooches (styled by Taylor McNeill). On Romy Mars, daughter of Sofia Coppola, in her charmingly bratty TikToks. On the streets of Tāmaki Makaurau, worn by cool young things with low-slung jeans. And yes, in stores, from local designers to luxury labels to mass-market basics.
The zip-up hoodie is fashion's great equaliser: whether it's a $2500 designer version, or a $69 basic. Wear it schlubby or cropped; flirty like Sandy Liang or oversized like Vetements.
The zip-ups evolution as an object of lust and scorn spans generations: they are the skater boys of your teens, 2000s era hyper-sexualised raunch culture, that guy you had an on/off/on/off thing with in your early 20s, Hypebeast streetwear and now, the 2025 It girl uniform. Demna at Balenciaga has been pushing the silhouette for years (so expect to see it at Gucci now he’s taken over), but it’s perhaps worth noting that they’ve made a comeback as a fashion item at the same time that Mark Zuckerberg had his so-called style ‘glow up’ – once shorthand for tech bro indifference and toxically casual start-up culture, the zip-up hoodie is being reclaimed as cool again.
In Aotearoa, we’ve long embraced the comfy and casual fit, with streetwear, athleisure and off-duty everything being, for better or worse, a national uniform. So it tracks that the zip-up is everywhere this winter.
Zambesi offers a refined sporty take, made locally with matching trackpants, while others like classic Tommy Hilfiger and the just launched Sylvester lean into babyfit Y2K nostalgia. Checks’ purple, diamante-encrusted ‘Juicy’ hoodie is a wink to early-2000s mall vibes, while Entire Studios – the cult brand launched by ex-Yeezy stylists and New Zealanders Dylan Richards Diaz and Sebastian Hunt – continues to deliver their signature enzyme washed brushed fleece zip-ups with real structure and heft.
That’s the difference between a bad zip-up and a great one: they can make you slouch into defeat onto the couch, or walk out the door with a quietly cool confidence. These options will help you nail the latter.
Tommy Hilfiger cropped ribbed hoodie, $189
Sylvester striped hoodie, $279 (a restock is coming)
Commonplace Essentials grey hoodie, $189
Lorna Jane vintage-wash hoodie, $185
Checks Downtown diamanté encrusted hoodie, $219
Camilla and Marc cropped hoodie, $420
Nili Lotan green hoodie, $629, from Workshop
Zambesi grey hoodie, $560 (made in NZ)
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