Much maligned, hooded sweatshirts (henceforth to be referred to as “hoodies”) deserve a place in the pantheon of wardrobe essentials. They are definitively casual and functional, but they’re really so much more than a collegiate gift shop would have you think. Especially in the hands of some of the coolest designers out there right now.

We’re not talking about the heather grey variety you might don for a run in the park. Nor clean navy kind that makes for a sturdy, stylish, if not particularly inventive addition to jeans and a white tee. There’s a new category of hoodie in town – one that we will call the Statement Hoodie.

These come from brands such as AMIRI, which went to town with tie-dye, Emotionally Unavailable, which had fun with patch-like prints, and LOEWE, which leaned heavily into high-impact colours. These hoodies were designed to be worn with pride and in the knowledge that they will draw eyes. See below for some of the best iterations of the statement hoodie on MR PORTER right now and have fun.

Messrs Edison Chen and Kybum Lee, the wry duo responsible for streetwear label Emotionally Unavailable, have dabbled with Renaissance art, but more often use their clothing as a platform for cutting-edge visual motifs. And, despite the name, they are very much open to collaboration – Playboy, Squid Game and Medicom are among the partners they’ve worked with, in a list that has serious “man cave” energy. “Ultra-contemporary” Swiss artist Mr Stefan Meier is the latest to showcase his cheery graphics on this fleece-back hoodie, alongside the brand’s trademark heart on the sleeve. We see what they did there.

This is not official guidance, but if you were to wear this item while spongled out of your cake tin on what the kids are calling “magic mushrooms”, then, well, the experience would not be entirely unpleasant. That’s our hot take from our recent encounter with Mr Jaden Smith, Hollywood scion, psychonaut and the creative mind behind far-out fashion brand MSFTSrep. The colour-gradient effect on this hoodie, which brings to mind Hypercolor clothing of the early 1990s, is stimulating even without the ingestion of psilocybin. But when you are at one with the universe, you’ll be better placed to appreciate (and physically see) the message on the reverse of this piece.

Mr Mike Amiri’s eponymous label is rock’n’roll incarnate, a celebration of the grungier side of LA in all its rebellious, rip-and-repair, messiest-night-out-ever aesthetic. It’s an attitude AMIRI wears across this blue tie-dyed hoodie, with its signature bones print and an “MA” monogram in case the wearer forgets which brand they’re wearing. That might appear impossible with AMIRI, unless you’ve really been tearing it 0n Sunset Strip the previous evening.

Mr Eli Russell Linnetz imbues everything he does with a special flavour. Whether it’s dressing A$AP Rocky in a showstopping red-carpet quilt at the Met Gala in 2021 or pitching a building-sized bear as part of installation for a New York department store (they didn’t go for in the end, sadly), this creative multi-hyphenate brings his bold and free spirited West Coast cool to each project. So it is with cotton-blend hoodie, which is giving us pink and purple marshmallows and looks good enough to eat.

Brave is the man willing to enter the big-cat enclosure – even for those who have no qualms in wading into some of the wackier menswear trends, there’s something about leopard that tends to strike universal fear. One of the simplest ways to approach animal print? Offset it with a relaxed silhouette and a low-key fabric, as with this cotton-jersey CELINE HOMME hoodie. Sure, you may have to psyche yourself up to throw it on before heading out the house, but its inherent ease will leave onlookers none the wiser.

In the hands of Acne Studios, the everyday hooded sweatshirt is elevated to the most highbrow piece hanging in your wardrobe. That’s all thanks to a collab with the Munch Museum, which has licensed out the Norwegian expressionist’s images to be emblazoned across the brand’s wares. On the front of this ruby-red hoodie, you’ll find the word “Separation”; on the reverse, the haunting 1896 painting that bears that name. If you’re keen to make a statement with your clothing this season, you might as well let it be that you’re an art aficionado.

Tie-dye is one of the biggest menswear trends in recent memory. And despite it being a technique that’s been around for centuries (it was practised more than 1,500 years ago in both China and Peru), it’s the free love and the hedonistic highs of the 1960s that we most associate it with. Upstart LA brand Gallery Dept. leans into those psychedelic vibes with this CND sign print hoodie, which has been hand-distressed to give it a more lived-in feel, or the very least like it’s been on a West Coast road trip.

LOEWE, the storied Spanish luxury house that’s now under the creative direction of Mr Jonathan Anderson, has a knack for elevated details. This chirpy orange hoodie is a particularly great example – the dropped shoulders are cut for a comfier fit, but the calf leather patch makes the whole thing look satisfyingly expensive. Orange you tempted?