The $300 tee
Once an intimate undergarment, this closet staple has been lifted to luxury fashion status
At the nexus of the normcore and athleisure casual-luxury dressing movements comes a curious new phenomenon: the $300 T-shirt. Women and men alike are putting big coin into what used to be a three-for-10-bucks investment in basics.
The quest for the perfect T-shirt has become the modern fashion grail.
This raising of the T-shirt to fashion status and fuss takes it out of the realm of sexy — remember, the T-shirt packs subliminal power because it was originally an intimate garment, worn under the shirted — to polished wardrobe piece. The preferred look is loose: that “model off-duty” slouch and drape is mandatory, as is a monochromatic colour scheme to keep the look polished.
Ahost of contemporary and designer bridge brands now compete for that premium T-shirt customer. Here is what is on the floor at Holt Renfrew right now: Acne Studio, the Swedish minimalist label, offers slightly oversized women’s crewneck and V-necks in the $150 to $160 range; the Brunello Cucinelli tee is a snug fit round neck for $440 to $475; Dries van Noten does a grey ruched shoulder quarter sleeve for $165; T by Alexander Wang rings in between $98 and $108; and The Row’s coveted Wesler tee is a silk blend that lands at $320 retail.
Is this yet another Brooklyn artisanal-cool thing? Indeed, Toronto’s Mackenzie Yeates was living in the borough with her fiancé when they devised a business plan for their T-shirt line Kotn last year.
“We noticed that all we wore, and all that everyone in Williamsburg wore, were black and white T-shirts. It is the New York cool person uniform,” she says, an announcement of creative intention. “But those $5 Hanes shirts get sloppy fast.”
Kotn is tapping into the trend for “affordable luxury to wear everyday,” says Yeates, which means $35 (U.S.) a shirt. “A T-shirt is what you wear closest to your skin; it should feel special.”
Another New Yorker, Anthony Thomas Melillo, has his initials and brand name, ATM, discreetly tattooed on his arm (and just as discreetly on his hyper-plain but highly fetishized T-shirt line for men and women, which range from $80 to $100, also at Holt Renfrew).
“It is all about the softest fabric, and how it drapes on the body,” Melillo says, as he relates trips to Japan and Peru to source and manufacture his paper-thin prizes.
The new fashion tees are really just an elevated twist on a familiar uniform. After all, the T-shirt is the humble symbol of the working class — think Second World War soldiers stripped down to their underwear kit in tropical postings, stevedores on the rough-and-tumble turn-ofthe century docks or Depression-era coal miners deep in the sweaty bowels of the earth.
Then, of course, came Brando and James Dean and the mid-century birth of cool, a state of mind always in a tight, manly T-shirt. That machismo blasted opened doors for the sexy, tight, graphic women’s tees of the ’70s, when Farrah Fawcett made the mode as cool for women; a silkscreen moment in heavy revival rotation this summer as well. The reaction was the utilitarian Gap basic tee of the ’90s (think Sharon Stone pairing it with a silk ball gown skirt).
Where does this new look come from? Fashion insiders always have a deceptively simple uniform: “It is Giorgio Armani,” says Toronto fashion stylist Roslyn Griffith Hall. “He wears a black T-shirt every day, and he has been right for 35 years now. He makes everyone else look overdressed.”
The worldwide official fashion assistant’s uniform has held steady for many years: monochromatic (white, black and grey) T-shirt or tank (preferably by Alexander Wang) and the perfect, banged-up straight-leg jean. Looks simple, but the details are critical, with a great deal of discussion around “hand-feel” and the drape of the cotton and Japanese or Egypt or local artisanal specialty cotton fabrications.
Arie Assaraf, the owner of TNT, with flagship shops at Hazelton Lanes, plus locations on Eglinton Ave. W. and Bayview Village, says: “T-shirts are the base for your wardrobe, the most important thing in your closet. Most of my customers buy multiples of the $85 to $100 basics, in every monochromatic tone. But there is a market for extreme luxury: $200, $400, up to $700 apiece. When you hit that level, you see the value in elevated fit, intricate seaming and elegant fabrications.”
WHAT MAKES A LUXURY TEE WORTH THE BIG BUCKS?
Cotton: This is the chief point of differentiation among brands. And in our age of artisanal ingredients and processes, designers often identify their cotton with as much pride as a chef might brag about his truffle source. So, for instance, Montreal-based Kuwallatee shirts are made of Supima American cotton (35 per cent longer than other cottons). And Toronto’s Kotn startup works directly with farmers hard hit by disappearing subsidies in Egypt to support their 100-per-cent organically grown extra-long staple cotton. Sustainability: This other hip factor is a natural offshoot of the premium cotton discussion and often a key marketing element (see Kotn, above). Stretch: T-shirts made of 100-percent cotton can be soggy and wrinkly. But a little polyester stretch high-tech magic goes a long way. The very best cotton blended with stretch is engineered in Japan. Fit: The three little bears had it right — in the luxury T-shirt world, too big is a no-no. And too small is a fashion crime worthy of expulsion from the tribe. The correct fit is “model off-duty,” which translates to loose and drapey in all the right places, but not sloppy. In general, this is a long-torso look. Cropped can be an option, but the crop has to hang loose as well. Sleeves can be long or short and tanks are part of the mix, as well. Detailing: This is where the design work really kicks in. There are many T-shirt collar buzzwords, from rounded crew to scoop to V to boat neck. Other hot elements include rolled hems and ruching (as at ATM) to sculpt the fit around the shoulder.