Even though it is rayon, it is remarkably rugged.

What kind of garment comes to mind when you hear “rayon shirt”?

Smooth, lustrous, and with a hint of sensuality.

Of course, that is also part of rayon’s appeal.
But this time, I wanted to make something a little drier and more rugged.

Good evening. This is Matsushima from cantáte.

Today, I would like to talk about the new rayon shirt we made.

 

<cantáte>

"Lazy Luxe Rayon Shirt – Rayon Plaid"

COL : NAVY×YELLOW , RED×BLACK , STONE GRAY

¥63,800 TAX IN

 

The form is a regular-collar shirt with a slightly shorter point.

No fusible interlining is used in the collar.

I do not like collars that stand unnaturally on their own or remain fixed in the same shape after washing.

They move with the fabric and gradually settle around the wearer’s neck.

Two vertically elongated chest pockets are placed on the front.

The straight-edged pockets layered over the check pattern add just a touch of a work shirt’s structure to rayon’s softness.

It is neither a refined dress shirt nor a direct replica of an old work shirt.

While allowing rayon’s drape to speak for itself, we adjusted the volume and outline so it does not cling to the body.

A lightweight shirt can sometimes look insubstantial even when it is cool.

So rather than simply making it lighter, we gave it enough resilience to hold its shape properly when worn.

Air passes through. Yet it retains its presence as a garment.

If you are going to wear it on its own in midsummer, I think that degree of balance is necessary.

 

And the aspect of production that troubled the factory most this time was the sewing.

The side seams through to the underarm seams are felled.

This construction is familiar in work shirts and denim shirts, but using it with difficult-to-handle rayon is another matter entirely.

The fabric shifts. It stretches. Even simply joining the pieces requires close attention.

The factory called repeatedly to say, “This is truly difficult to sew.”

Even so, I wanted to use felled seams because this sewing method creates a character that cannot be achieved any other way.

By enclosing the seam allowance and securing it with two rows of stitching, the inside lies neatly, with less discomfort against the skin.

And with repeated washing, fine puckering develops around the seams.

Rayon is a material prone to shrinkage.

Normally, that shrinkage would be treated as a flaw.

But if that change is designed in from the start, it becomes part of the garment’s character.

Slight unevenness emerges in the once-uniform fabric along the seams.

The smooth rayon gradually becomes a garment that has been worn by someone.

 

This beauty cannot be achieved with any other specification.

The buttons are specially thickly made Takase shell.

We select pieces that are beautiful not only on the surface, but on the reverse as well, with no chips along the edges.

Attaching deliberately thick buttons to a lightweight fabric.

It may seem slightly disproportionate, but that weight keeps the shirt as a whole from looking insubstantial.

Even the feel when fastened with a finger is part of what gives this garment its shape.

Next came the fabric.

“I want to make a washable rayon shirt.”

It began with that straightforward statement.

Lightweight, cool, and standing away from the skin.

It must not be flimsy, but have a resilience that feels reassuring when worn.

Based on those conditions, we developed the fabric from the ground up for this release.

The weave is twill.

Beneath rayon’s smoothness is the density and shading characteristic of a twill weave.

Released last week were NAVY × YELLOW and RED × BLACK.

Both colorways have a vaguely nostalgic American feel.

Because rayon has such vivid color, the yellow stays clear and the red is strong.

Even so, the twill weave mutes the colors slightly, so it does not end with mere brightness.

Making an Americana check in rayon.

I like this slightly strange combination.

 

And one more color.

For this release, we developed a new color called STONE GRAY as an Exclusive.

If NAVY × YELLOW and RED × BLACK are for enjoying the color combinations of the check, STONE GRAY is a color that quietly reveals the character of the fabric itself.

Rayon’s drape.
The diagonal twill lines.
The seam puckering created by washing.

by limiting the number of colors, the construction I have described so far comes through more plainly.

Being an exclusive did not mean that I wanted to make a grand show of its specialness;

Rather, I wanted a color you could reach for without thinking and that would settle naturally into the wearer’s wardrobe.

True to the name STONE GRAY, it is not as forceful as black, nor as light as pale gray.

It is a single color, as though the shirt’s shadow itself had become color.

 

After sewing, the garments are washed and tumble-dried.

Rayon is vulnerable to water and shrinks considerably.

That is why we handle the processes that cause shrinkage and distortion before the garment reaches the customer.

The major shrinkage has already occurred at the product stage.

A shirt made for the season when you sweat is meaningless if you cannot wash the sweat out of it.

Wear it, wash it, dry it, and wear it again.

Not simply to label it washable, but to make it something you can live with naturally as a garment.

I do not think styling needs to be overthought.

Faded denim works, as do well-cut wool trousers.

Pair it with shorts for an uncomplicated summer look, and when it gets a little cooler, wear it over a white T-shirt.

 

It has the allure of rayon. But the felled seams and the shirt’s structure make it a little rougher.

Not too pristine, but not vintage-looking either.

This shirt exists somewhere in between.

When making clothes, it is easy to start thinking of their brand-new state as the finished form.

Freshly pressed, every button fastened, and still untouched by anyone’s habits.

But that is where it truly begins.

It absorbs sweat, is washed at home, and the seams shrink slightly.

The collar interlining settles in, and fine ripples emerge around the felled seams.

STONE GRAY, too, should gradually develop a different character through the wearer’s everyday life.

 

Not staying pristine, but looking good even as it changes.

 

I do not believe that durability alone is what is needed to wear a garment for a long time.

Washing, wrinkling, and changes in color are all things the garment has been made to accommodate from the very beginning.

The more effortlessly a garment can be worn, the longer it quietly remains by its wearer’s side.

This shirt, too, will surely look better next year, after being worn and washed many times, than it does today hanging on a hanger.

STONE GRAY will be released on Saturday, August 29.

 

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