If you have ever looked closely at a hoodie or crewneck sweatshirt and noticed a small V-shaped fabric insert at the base of the collar, you are far from alone. Most people spot this little detail at some point and simply assume it is decorative, a quirky design flourish with no deeper meaning. As it turns out, that tiny triangle has a fascinating origin story rooted in athletic history, and a viral TikTok video has recently brought the whole thing to light for millions of curious viewers.
Content creator Alex Ma, who regularly uses TikTok to debunk myths and share lesser-known facts about clothing and fashion, sparked widespread conversation when his video on the subject racked up over six million views. In it, Ma breaks down the history and function of the V-insert, explaining that it is far more than a stylistic choice. “On many hoodies and crewnecks, there is a V-insert below the collar,” Ma points out. “It’s usually in the front, sometimes in the back, and occasionally on both sides. But it’s not just there for looks.”
The story behind this small detail stretches back to 1926, when American sportswear company Russell Athletic designed a jersey for football players made from cotton fleece. Before that, football uniforms were constructed from wool, which had obvious advantages in cold weather but came with serious drawbacks once athletes started sweating. As Ma explains, “Wool is warm, which is great, but mixed with sweat and intense physical activity, it gets heavy and uncomfortable. On top of that, wool would shrink when washed.” The shift to cotton was a major improvement, but it introduced a new challenge: managing moisture during high-intensity play.
@alextwma Triangles? For what?
♬ Slowest Stargazing – Marcelo De Carvalho
Russell Athletic’s solution was both clever and simple. The V-shaped insert was positioned precisely where perspiration tends to accumulate first on the upper body, around the chest and collarbone area. By using a separate piece of fabric cut in a V or triangular shape, the garment could absorb sweat at that specific point without saturating the rest of the shirt. This kept athletes drier and more comfortable during games and practices. The design worked so well that it was adopted broadly across sportswear and eventually found its way into everyday casual clothing, where it became a standard design element even long after the original athletic context had faded.
Beyond moisture management, the insert served a second practical function that is equally important. When pulling a sweatshirt on over the head, the collar is placed under significant strain, especially around the neckline where the fabric has to stretch wide enough to accommodate a person’s head. The V-insert acted as a built-in flex point, allowing the collar to expand temporarily without warping or losing its shape permanently. This meant the garment held its form wash after wash and wear after wear, which was particularly valuable for athletic uniforms that endured rough, repeated use.
However, Ma is quick to point out that most of today’s V-inserts no longer serve either of these original purposes. “You’ll often see something that looks like a V-insert but isn’t actually functional,” he explains. “It’s usually made from the same fabric as the rest of the sweatshirt, with just an extra piece sewn on for appearance. It doesn’t provide extra stretch, and it’s purely decorative.” He adds that some modern garments go even further in stripping away the original intent: “Even worse, some shirts just have a V-shaped seam with no extra material at all.” In those cases, the detail is entirely cosmetic, a nod to a tradition that most wearers no longer understand.
This kind of hidden history is surprisingly common in clothing. Many everyday garments carry design elements that were once highly functional but have since become purely aesthetic through habit and convention. The small buttons on suit jacket sleeves, for instance, were originally meant to fasten back during surgery or physical work. The tiny pocket inside the front pocket of jeans was designed to hold a pocket watch. Fashion has a long tradition of preserving the appearance of utility long after the utility itself has disappeared, turning practical innovation into visual shorthand for quality or heritage.
Russell Athletic, the brand behind the original cotton football jersey, is one of the oldest sportswear companies in the United States, having been founded in 1902 in Alexander City, Alabama. The brand became a staple of American athletic wear throughout the twentieth century, outfitting countless school teams and professional athletes. Their innovations in activewear, including the introduction of the cotton jersey and the V-insert, helped shape the modern sweatshirt as we know it today. The garment itself, once strictly associated with athletic training, gradually moved into mainstream fashion during the latter half of the twentieth century and now sits at the heart of streetwear, loungewear, and casual dressing worldwide.
Did you already know about the history behind this tiny clothing detail, or did it catch you completely off guard? Share your thoughts in the comments.
