Cozy yet durable, hooded sweatshirts are making the transition from a pandemic staple to updated office casual.

In some parts of Canada, they call a hooded sweatshirt a “bunny hug,” and there’s no denying the cozy comfort of an oversized hoodie in a heavyweight fleece fabric.

It’s almost like “wearing a weighted blanked,” says Caius Olowu, Director of Merchandise at a top apparel company. “Heavier fabrics hold their structure in a relaxed cut, whilst also providing the wearer a sense of comfort and protection.”

The unisex Santa Cruz fleece hoodie features a heavy cotton face for ease of printability and breathability.

Thanks to the influence of streetwear in fashion and a sustained nostalgia for ’90s-era silhouettes, oversized unisex hoodies have been popular with younger consumers for a while now. But the pandemic broadened their appeal, with the desire for comfort turning sweats into the de facto work-from-home uniform. “Research shows that 60% of men feel that wearing a hoodie is appropriate when working from home,” says Michael Johnson, printwear director at a top apparel company.

The trend seems poised to outlast the pandemic. “As people return to work, some offices are adopting what Silicon Valley execs embraced years ago, the hoodie, specifically the Champion hoodie,” Johnson says. “In other words, grownups are catching up to what high school kids have known for years.”

Cary Heller, vice president of sales at a top apparel company, believes the trend has an element of sustainability to it as well. “People don’t want the tri-blends,” he says. “They want chunky T-shirts and stubbornly tough hoodies that are going to last a long, long time.”

Fabric weight is a measurement of the thickness of the threads that make up the material, and heavyweight hoodies are typically made from cotton that ranges from around 10 to 13 ounces. The Champion Reverse Weave, for example, a campus staple for more than 80 years, weighs in at 12 ounces.

This heavyweight hoodie comes in a wide range of colors and patterns, including a bold houndstooth print.

Garment-dye treatments that give the hoodie a vintage look and tie-dye continue to be in demand, according to Johnson. Basic colors like gray, navy and black are top performers, according to Christina Marcantelli, sales enablement coordinator at an activewear company. Still, she adds, there are so many colors and patterns to choose from. “Alternative neutrals” like cream or off-white, sandstone, khaki and army green are also growing in popularity, she adds.