Fashion refuses to give up on much-maligned hooded top

When the hooded top was banned from Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, it was a low point for a garment that had never been the apex of taste.

But, according to Vogue, the young and hip will be embracing the "hoodie" next year as one of the 100 new trends to look out for.

"After a year of bad press it's time to reclaim the hooded top from malevolent scowling youths," it said.

Editor Alexandra Shulman added: "Hoodies might be out of favour in shopping centres, but fashion refuses to give them up."

Vogue's backing comes six months after hooded tops were banned at Bluewater, when managers claimed that teenagers were causing trouble and using their tops to avoid being identified on CCTV.

The centre reported a 23 per cent visitor rise after they were outlawed.

Shulman was not, of course, talking about the large sweatshirt versions so beloved of surly teenagers.

Rather, Vogue suggests picking up Juicy Couture's cashmere hooded top, opting for one designed by Stella McCartney for Adidas or splashing out on a D&G model.

According to some commentators, hoodies have been back for a while, even if in an "ironic" fashion.

Nicki Bidder, editor-in-chief of Dazed and Confused magazine, said: "The hoodie has acquired a cool factor and become more associated with the disaffected youth.

"People are wearing them with a smirk, with an acknowledgement there is nothing wrong with hooded tops, and perhaps also that teenagers should not be targeted for wearing them."

For the very rich, next season's hoodies will be a distinctly more glamorous affair - appearing in taffeta and silk.

According to fashion writer Iain Webb, designers are likely to want to use more luxurious fabrics to combine streetwear with the "vogue of volume". He added that the designers' attraction to the hoodie was not a surprise.

"We saw it with the shell-suit tracksuit, which was transformed when Juicy Couture remade it in cashmere. But designers are always looking for something that isn't thought to be fashionable that they can resurrect into something else, and give it new life."

The other unlikely garment set for a comeback is leggings. Vogue said of their return: "Granted, this is a tricky one. But try to put to the back of your mind visions of Fame! and Eighties aerobics - rather, think of leggings as warmer alternatives to stockings."

And a word to the wise: it strongly counselled against wearing them with hoodies.

- INDEPENDENT