How do you improve on an already svelte suit made from cotton usually utilized for Fruit of the Loom T-shirts? Double up the options and re-release. 

That’s the logic guiding Keiji Kaneko, the man behind the deceptively simple two-piece “FRUIT ATHLETIC FORMAL SUIT.” He’s an easy man to trust on these types of affairs: Kaneko is busy-busy, balancing work as a fashion buyer with creative directing his vintage store, Boutique, and his menswear label, Foundour. 

So, when the first iteration of the FRUIT ATHLETIC FORMAL SUIT was released in February, people noticed and snapped it up immediately. The sight of a double-breasted suit jacket with slouchy double-pleated pants compressed into Fruit of the Loom’s signature clear plastic packaging (more often stuffed with multipacks of T-shirts and underwear) was enough to make brains pop.

But the fact that it was actually good, and made with 12-ounce heavyweight cotton? This is the kind of so-simple-it's-genius move that befits someone so tapped into the market (and what it's missing). Who knew basic T-shirts could be so interesting?

Fruit of the Loom

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For round two, Kaneko proved that lightning can and will strike twice. The FRUIT ATHLETIC FORMAL SUIT has gone bigger and better: There are two styles, the OG double-breasted and a new single-breasted version, plus a fresh brown hue to go along with the standard black and navy versions. 

The collaboration is still Japan-exclusive, with the double-breasted version retailing for ¥24,200 (around $155) and the more casual single-breasted take landing at ¥22,000 (around $140). 

But given how popular this collab has been, surely it’s only a matter of time until some basics brand hears our pleas and brings the T-shirt suit to the masses, right? …right?! 

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