Regular Collar Shirt Stripe

Based on the original "BD shirt" from Kaneko's shop "BOUTIQUE", this work adds a touch of Houyhnhnm's essence. The collar has been changed to a regular collar, and the shirt fabric is striped and checked.

Although it looks casual, the hand-stitched shoulders, stitching along the very edge, and the fine stitching make it a dress shirt. It can be worn with anything, from smart trousers to jeans and chinos. A casual dress shirt that can be paired with any pants depending on how you interpret it has been completed.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Improving tailoring is a tool-based idea.

- What is the story behind the creation of the "BOUTIQUE" shirts?

Kaneko: A long time ago, I made a shirt using fabric from Carlo Riva, the world's top fabric manufacturer, and with the same top-notch tailoring. The shape was inspired by BD shirts, a long-established American brand, and the tailoring was incredibly beautiful, but somehow casual. It was obviously a good product, but I had an idea that if the tailoring was this good, it wouldn't matter what fabric it was made from.

- Generally, we often see shirts that use good fabric but don't pay much attention to the tailoring. However, I haven't seen many items that take the opposite approach.

Kaneko: The ones we make at "BOUTIQUE" are made from fabrics that we happened to find at a fabric store. They're mass-produced, so they're very cheap. But I couldn't imagine a bad shirt being made from them. That was the idea, or the inspiration that gave birth to this shirt.

When I actually tried making it, I ended up with something really good. After all, good tailoring really improves the completeness of the garment. It's true that compared to high-quality fabrics, the sheen and feel are different, but it's by no means unsatisfying. When I was wearing it, the designer even asked me, "Where's the fabric from?" and I realized that good tailoring makes the fabric look good (laughs). But no matter how good the fabric is, it doesn't mean the tailoring will look good. So tailoring is really important.

- Even though it's a common fabric that's widely available, that doesn't mean it's of poor quality.

Kaneko: It's cheap because it's mass-produced. It's a fabric that's used in clothing in general, so in a sense it's safe and secure quality. It's stable and durable. So just because it's cheap doesn't mean it's of poor quality.

- I've heard that such standard materials allow craftsmen to demonstrate their true talents more easily. High-quality materials can be too delicate and difficult to handle, but universal materials are something that everyone is accustomed to handling.

Kaneko: That may be true. I often hear that if the material is too good, it's slippery and difficult to sew, or the sewing machine needle won't go in. If you think about it, vintage clothes probably used fabrics that were in circulation at the time, and they weren't made with the intention of doing something special, and the ideas were probably simpler.

- That may be true. It was more like a tool.

Kaneko: However, to make something good, you need experience and knowledge. It is important to know in what context you can use that knowledge. In my case, I am always drawn to clothes that are made as tools, so the shirts from "BOUTIQUE" really reflect that way of thinking.

- So it's a tool in the world of dresses?

Kaneko: That's right. Beautiful sewing is a given in the world of dresses. I think that good tailoring is a tool-like idea. But when you move it to a casual scene, it becomes interesting in terms of fashion. It's unique to wear nice clothes in a casual setting. Even someone who is usually sloppy can look neat when wearing this. I think the fact that it can be worn in this way is what makes it a tool.

American shirts, crafted with an Italian twist.

- This time, Houyhnhnm picked up London stripe fabric and two different check patterns to make a shirt. It is not a BD but a regular color.

Kaneko: After some back and forth with the editorial staff at Houyhnhnm, we came up with the idea that stripes would be good. Plain broadcloth would look too dressy, and we thought that many of our readers would wear casual bottoms like military pants or chinos. London stripes are a typical American traditional pattern, and somehow we thought that would fit the mood.

- This is also a fabric that is generally available.

Kaneko: That's true. However, this time it's not a solid color but a pattern, so it was difficult to find a good one. After all, the pattern doesn't come out nicely unless you use fine thread. While digging around, I found an attractive striped fabric, and in the process, I also found two check patterns.

- This checked pattern 2 feels somehow delicate to the touch. Is it made of a special fabric?

Kaneko: The fine checks are from "Monty" and the large checks are from "Thomas Mason". We only have a small amount and can only make a limited number of pieces, so even though it's a good fabric, we offered it at a special price. It's interesting to have these checks as an extension of the London stripe, and since the base is an American traditional shirt, I thought it would go well with it.

- Each expression is different, but there's a strange sense of unity.

Kaneko: It felt very real to me. It's not too cool, and if it respected the current mood too much, I wouldn't be able to wear it next season. It's a universal, not particularly modern, but it's a pattern that hits the sweet spot. If it was in my wardrobe, I'd want to take it out and wear it often.

- Perhaps it's because of the quality of the tailoring, but even though the clothing is based on traditional style, it doesn't feel like a quintessential American style.

Kaneko: It has an indescribable sense of balance. The collar is also sampled from the shape of a good old American traditional Blu-ray shirt. It has a nice curve on the outside and even the smallest details are faithfully reproduced, but in a good way, it's not cloying and it's a shape that fits in well.

- The silhouette is boxy.

Kaneko: We slightly adjusted the balance between the length and width of the shirt compared to the original, making it wider on the sides. The length was originally set long so that it could be tucked in, but since we are now in an era where it can be worn outside, we re-edited it to make it more modern.

- And then they make it with the finest tailoring.

Kaneko: We were conscious of Neapolitan tailoring when we made the shirt. For example, the arm parts are hand-sewn, but can you see that the stitching line under the armpits is misaligned? This is because the sleeves are sewn to come forward. In Italian thought, all jacket sleeves are attached to the front to match the structure of the human body, so we wanted to do the same for shirts. The base is an American shirt, but we've tailored it according to Italian thinking. That's its most distinctive feature.

Kaneko: Also, there is one buttonhole with a detail called a glican, which is like a bar fastener. The back of the placket has a flimsy folded fabric, so I think this is to keep it in place, but you can find this kind of detail on high-end Italian shirts. That's how they incorporated European ideas.

-Even with this type of arm sewing, are there only a limited number of general factories in Japan that can achieve it?

Kaneko: That's right. Naples was originally a poor city, and it seems that the culture of hand sewing developed because there were no machines. However, in Japan, there are machines, so conversely, there are few people with the skills of Neapolitan craftsmen. There is such a difference in background between Japan and Naples, and the skills born out of poverty are what make beautiful things possible.

When you sew with a sewing machine, it creates puckering and looks like it was sewn by machine, but something sewn by hand like this has a very soft feel to it.

- It's more curved than straight, and has a certain plump warmth to it.

Kaneko: Italian shirts are obviously sexy and fluffy. No matter what you do, they don't look sharp. I think that's why Japanese people are attracted to Italian things. I wanted to incorporate that element into American traditional shirts.

- Does the fineness of the hand movement also affect how it appears?

Kaneko: I think it's quite a lot. This time it's a pattern so the stitches are hard to see, but I think the beauty is different when they're sewn in a detailed way.

- I feel like that kind of sensitivity also influences the "sexiness" that you talk about.

Kaneko: I think so. It's a shirt with a very loose fit, so if it was sewn normally it would end up looking too casual. But by creating this shape through beautiful tailoring and sewing, it gives off an interesting and sexy vibe.