Since when has fleece been cool? Like many of the current trends permeating fashion (ugly trainers spring to mind), you probably wouldn’t have been seen dead wearing fleece just a few years ago. Now, it’s everywhere.

Once reserved for hikers, bird watchers and teachers on school trips, fleece is today just as likely to be seen on streetwear kids as it is in the après-ski lodge. Naturally, it’s incredibly warm and works as a layering piece come winter. Oh, and it’s possible for it to look good too.

What Is Fleece?

The greatest appeal of fleece has always been its warmth, despite being incredibly light in weight. An entirely man-made fabric, it’s derived from plastic – polyester fibres are woven tightly together and then brushed to create a pile-like surface.

Not only does this give it a soft, textured feel, it also helps with fleece’s heat-retention and moisture-resistance – air pockets are trapped between the fibres meaning the heat generated by your body stays put.

Urban Outfitters

This is why fleece has always been popular in the great outdoors. In fact, that trusty American wilderness brand that everyone’s now wearing, Patagonia, was behind the creation of fleece back in the 80s. The idea was to improve on wool – nature’s best, sure, but often itchy and incredibly heavy when wet.

Patagonia’s fleece, dubbed Synchilla, was an immediate hit and would become sustainable in 1993, when the brand started producing it out of plastic bottles. (It’s worth noting that not all fleece is made from recycled materials though – some require the use of raw petroleum and arguably all release micro-plastics when washed, which can ultimately end up in the world’s oceans.)

How To Wear Fleece

Fleece has seen a sharp incline in popularity, but why are people flocking to it? Much of its current appeal can be attributed to the nineties revival and the general feeling of nostalgia surrounding it. Light-wash jeans, chunky trainers, colour-blocked anoraks and fleece – they’ve all had big years and they all stem from that decade.