The Hoodie exhibition, curated by Lou Stoppard

Model Adut Akech wears Balenciaga in i-D’s The Earthwise Issue, Fall 2018. Photograph: Campbell Addy. Styling: Alastair McKimm.

VETEMENTS Ready to Wear, Autumn/Winter 2016. Photo credit: Gio Staiano.

Umbra, 2019 by Prem Sahib. Photograph by Plastiques.

Untitled (Hood 13), 2018, archival pigment photograph by John Edmonds.

Refuge Wear Intervention, London East End 1998 by Lucy + Jorge Orta. Photograph by
John Akehurst.

February II, 2019 by Devan Shimoyama.

EUnify – Berlin 2019, 2019 by Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek, Exactitudes 168.

Writer and independent curator Lou Stoppard features her newest exhibition, centred around potentially the most political of clothing items of the Western world: the hoodie. Showing at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, The Hoodie digs deep into the tumultuous socio-political identity of the garment, and all that it has encapsulated since it’s popularization by Champion in the 1930s.

Through the use of a seamless and eclectic blend of cultural elements such as art, fashion, social media and digital content, Stoppard explores a multitude of themes, each more relevant than the last; one finds the conversation opened up to gender fluidity, the link between music and subcultures, challenging traditional dress codes and the rise of ‘facial recognition technology and surveillance culture’. Amongst the works featured, some of the most prominent names in the photography, art and fashion industries can be found, such as Rick Owens, Angelica Falkeling, David Hammons and Sasha Huber.

The Hoodie will be on at the Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam from Sunday December 1 2019 – Sunday 12 April 2020

The show will be accompanied by a digital magazine featuring specially commissioned essays, interviews and visuals.