13 Best Varsity Jackets 2024, According to GQ Style Editors | GQ

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In the fantasy draft of casual fall outerwear, the best varsity jackets for men are a perennial top pick. From their humble origins as Harvard University baseball sweaters in the 1860s, varsity jackets (a.k.a. letterman jackets or award jackets) have become one of the most iconic pieces of American sportswear, on par with Converse All-Stars and Yankees caps. With a simple, rugged design, a plethora of color options, and starring roles in some of the biggest cultural moments of the '80s—from Thriller to Beverly Hills Cop to The Breakfast Club—it’s no wonder the varsity jacket has endured.

After making their way from collegiate sports in the 19th century to the pro leagues in the early 20th, varsity jackets evolved from knit sweaters and cardigans to their current form—wool body, leather sleeves, slash pockets and snaps—in the 1950s and 1960s when they were awarded to top-performing varsity athletes. In the decades that followed, thanks to the co-sign of hip-hop legends like Run DMC, the varsity jacket became an essential part of the streetwear canon, too.

Now, a full 40 years after Axel Foley first rocked his Detroit Lions letterman on the mean streets of Beverly Hills, the look remains as potent as ever. In addition to classic versions in cheerful team colors (with or without the signature letter) varsity jackets now come in more flavors than skittles. From ultra-authentic Japanese repros to a diverse array of high-fashion reinterpretations from 2024’s most creative designers, these are the genre’s current MVPs.

Golden Bear

Mr Porter

It may not draw the same tourist traffic as Hearst Castle or Cannery Row, but the Potrero Ave workshop where Golden Bear makes its authentic letterman jackets is equally deserving of a place among California’s historic sites. Here, in a building once adjacent to the San Francisco Seals baseball stadium, Golden Bear does things in much the same way it has for the better part of a century. Founded in 1922, Golden Bear started out making leather coats for San Francisco’s dockworkers before expanding into bomber jackets for pilots in WWII and varsity jackets in the postwar years. With its leather body, wool sleeves, striped cuffs and snap front, the Portola looks more or less the same as anything coming out of the Golden Bear workshop in decades past, which gives it historical significance and sartorial clout.

Stewart & Strauss

Amazon

Whatever team you’re rooting for, this 40-year-old spiritwear specialist has the right letterman jacket to let your colors fly. In addition to an impressive range of sizes from XXS to 6XL, Stewart & Strauss offers its Original Varsity Jacket in more than 40 color combos ranging from somber black-on-black to jaunty purple and gold (go Lakers!) on offer at their Amazon store. In addition to a wool body, cowhide sleeves, and a vintage-style Mandarin collar, the jackets also feature a zip-out quilted lining that makes it easy to customize yours with a sew-on patch. If that doesn’t offer enough personalization, however, you can build your own varsity jacket from scratch in one of four silhouettes using the customization tool on Stewart & Strauss’s website.

American Trench

American Trench

There are two prevailing schools of thought when it comes to varsity jackets: authentic old-school and modern re-interpretation. With a form-fitting silhouette that’s as mid-century American as sock-hops and drive-ins, and the unexpected combination of navy, brown and white, however, this American Trench example sits square in the middle. American Trench is known for making solid and stylish sweats, socks and tees in its Pennsylvania factory, but the Philly-based brand sought help from the specialists at Settlemier's Jackets in Oregon for this one. The result, which is made in Portland from navy 24 oz. virgin melton wool and dark brown cowhide, promises a best-of-both-worlds look that’ll work just as well with your game-day jeans and tees as it does with your weekday Oxford shirts and chinos.

Kapital

Mr Porter

Like a great work of abstract art, the creations of Kapital’s mad scientist creative director Kiro Hirato (aka Mr. Blue) always leave abundant room for interpretation. Along with Indigenous American motifs and smiley faces, Kiro’s love of human skeletons has become a mainstay of Kapital collections in recent years, but the famously cryptic designer leaves us to make of it what we will. Is it his answer to the memento mori and vanitas paintings of the 17th century? A winking meditation on human mortality? A tribute to Thom Browne’s instantly classic 2018 skeleton dress? Alas, we may never know. What is certain, however, is that this boxy black and white letterman, complete with felt femurs, embroidered harps and a big capital I (or is it a Roman numeral 1?) on the chest embodies Kapital’s signature blend of American tradition and Japanese eccentricity that we’ve all come to know and love.

Céline

Mr Porter

Hedi Slimane took Celine Homme on a road trip through the American West this season, drawing inspiration from cowboys, mods, vampires and Hector Berlioz’s proto-psychedelic 1830 Symphonie Fantastique. The result is a collection that includes monochrome I-line suits, high-heeled Chelsea boots, somber black fedoras and this stunner of a varsity jacket in wool and calf leather. With a contrasting yoke, a set of arrow-tipped slash pockets, a point collar and a snap-front closure, it combines the country twang of a Western shirt with the all-American good looks of a classic letterman. To put it one way, it places two of the most potent archetypes of American masculinity in an androgynously sexy new context. To put it another, it’s a little bit country, a little bit rock ‘n roll.

Dehen 1920

Dehen 1920

This Portland, Oregon-based clothier has been making heavy-duty jackets and knitwear since 1920 and fortunately, based on the look of its current catalog, not much has changed since. That includes Dehen’s take on the varsity jacket, which has been among the company’s specialties since the 1950s when it handmade each one for the specific athlete who had earned the distinction of sporting a school’s letter on their chest. That makes Dehen’s varsity jacket among the most authentic you’ll find, with the quality of its 24-ounce Melton wool body, leather sleeves and worsted wool trim to prove it. One of more than half a dozen varsity jackets on offer from Dehen this season, the combo of royal blue wool and rust-colored leather feels unexpected and a little celebratory, which seems about right for a piece of outerwear created to crown hometown heroes.

Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch

Part and parcel of Abercrombie’s glorious menswear glow-up are pieces exactly like this, which celebrates the right-now swagger of Red Bull’s Formula 1 roster via a silhouette Ayrton Senna would’ve loved. If your tastes skew more gridiron than race track, relax: A&F also sells half a dozen covetable NFL versions, each one done up with their own embroidered graphics, telltale piped cuffs, and in the same cozy fabrics.

Wales Bonner

Wales Bonner

Few designers are as adept at subverting expectations as British wunderkind Grace Wales Bonner. Bonner built her namesake brand by remixing wardrobe staples through an Afro-diasporic lens and has won just about every big prize in fashion (including a GQ Global Creativity Award) in the process. This varsity jacket does exactly that, reimagining the collegiate silhouette with an oversized fit and the same stud-accented black and cream aesthetic as her sold-out Adidas Sambas.

Joe McCoy

The Real McCoy's

If you’ve ever gone down the rabbit hole of meticulously-recreated mid-century American workwear, you’ve doubtless come across this revered Japanese brand. If not, this varsity jacket will tell you pretty much everything you need to know. It’s based on an archival piece from the 1960s, with a raft of original details from the quilted lining and brass snaps to the tag from Ballpark Sportswear, Chicago, IL, the original maker. The body is melton wool, but, in typical over-the-top fashion, The Real McCoys swapped the original cowhide sleeves for ones made of sturdier aniline-finished horsehide.

Levi's

Levi's

Levi’s makes a killer pair of jeans. You know this, we know this, Glen Powell definitely knows this. These days, though, the first name in denim also makes pretty much everything you should wear with ‘em, including vintage-inflected jackets just like this one, which harnesses the brand’s centuries-old pedigree to tremendous effect. Sure, it interprets the source material a little less literally—the sleeves aren’t leather, and the silhouette is a smidge more streamlined—but when you’ve been in the business as long as Levi’s has you’re entitled to creative liberties. You won’t find a better version for the price.

Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren is a reliable go-to for all things classic American, and this brooding beauty is no exception. Unlike the other letterman jackets in the Lauren lineup, though, the blacked-out color scheme gives it a more modern, slightly menacing look that’s an ideal complement to your sleekest white sneakers and black jeans.

Mr P

Mr Porter

If you like the look of the classic varsity jacket but don’t want to feel like an extra from American Graffiti, here’s a thoroughly grown-up alternative. With the same slim, snap-front silhouette as a classic letterman but supple brown suede in place of wool and leather, Mr. Porter’s house label has created something that begs to be paired with chinos, Oxford-cloth button-downs, and any of your other smart-casual go-tos.

Supreme

Supreme

Four years after VF bought Supreme for a cool 2 billion, subsequently unloading it to eyewear juggernaut EssilorLuxottica, the brand is growing up right before our eyes—but its riffs on the American menswear canon still boast their signature tongue-in-cheek wit. Take, for example, its quilted varsity jacket, which looks like it sauntered off the set of a forgotten Hallmark classic from the ‘90s, though the winking appliqué chest patch skews more chopped cheese than cheesy. Knowledge reigns supreme, indeed.