These Fancy Suits Are Made of... T-Shirts?
Ask a tailor what the best fabric for a suit is. Some may prefer a rustic tweed weave, others a soft Loro Piana wool, or, in warmer climates, a light linen. However, I’m confident no tailor would recommend the cotton from the world’s most basic T-shirt.
Good job Keiji Kaneko isn’t a tailor, then. The vintage store-owner, fashion buyer, and brains behind menswear label Foundour has collaborated with Fruit of the Loom to create a double-breasted suit jacket with slouchy double-pleated pants made entirely of cotton jersey typically reserved for tees.
At first glance, the set appears relatively conventional.
The two suits are offered in traditional colors of navy and black, featuring broad lapels and styled with oxfords and polo shirts.
However, these suave two-pieces, officially named “THE FRUIT ATHLETIC FORMAL SUIT,” are 12 oz single-jersey T-shirt fabric.
But before you assume that it’s the same cloth as a Fruit of the Loom tee you can pick up from Walmart, this is a finer fabric woven in a heavyweight construction.
The double-breasted suits even arrive in resealable plastic bags akin to those that house ordinary Fruit of the Loom T-shirts, listing benefits like their “soft and quick-drying” properties and highlighting how they can be “washed at home.” These suits aren’t mere novelties, according to Kaneko.
This collaboration, available from Japan for ¥24,200 (around $155), is an evolution of the single-breasted formal suits that Kaneko has occasionally produced with Fruit of the Loom Japan since 2021.
It's a demonstration of just how far a familiar maker can go, presenting a knack for innovation unusual for a mere T-shirt brand. It also happens to arrive only a month after fellow plain-tee company, Hanes, presented at Paris Fashion Week. Maybe it’s time to reconsider the basic T-shirt as anything but.
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