To commemorate the sweatshirt's 80th birthday this autumn, US-based Russell Athletic will partner with the Georgia Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to host the annual 65 Roses Ball, October 14. Guests at the event will be encouraged to incorporate a favourite sweatshirt into their black tie attire for the evening, when there also will be opportunities for them to decorate and airbrush their sweatshirts.

The company also has plans to celebrate the milestone birthday of the sweatshirt in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the city that made the first sweatshirt purchase order.

The sweatshirt was first created by Bennie Russell, son of Russell Corporation's founder Benjamin Russell, in 1926 and was first used as a ‘warm-up’ for football and track teams.