I created a cuban collar overshirt (by david)

The editorial capsule, from us to you

The moment it all started

It’s March 2021 and at the end of our weekly team meeting, Benoît calls out to us:

“I have something to tell you.”

I hold my breath.

“I want the editorial department to work on clothes for 2022. I want your vision of clothing, a little more assertive, to be reflected in our collection.”

Wow, I didn't expect that.

The idea of ​​working on a piece of clothing had been tickling my mind for several months already.

So my answer was a big YES!

But which room will I be able to work on? So many possibilities, so few certainties.

An overshirt with retro influences

When I look at the evolution of my style over the last two years, I see a growing appreciation for vintage and retro styles .

I spend a lot of time looking at thrift stores and other surplus stores looking for buried gems.

It was with this approach that I found my first collared shirt two years ago in thrift stores. Cuban .

This pass makes me want to play. I like to place it on the lapel of a blazer like Tony Montana in Scarface.

So no, I'm not about to introduce you to a Hawaiian shirt while it's winter.

On the other hand, it occurs to me to keep this Cuban collar to put it on a long-sleeved overshirt . So, it becomes 4 seasons: I like that.

I imagine it in layering, open or closed, the collar allowing you to really highlight what's underneath.

I also imagine it worn next to the skin, under a jacket, with that rebellious collar sticking out.

I discuss this track with Jérôme, our cinema expert, who tells me that he has already seen this type of piece in films with 50s accents.

After thanking him warmly, I dig into this vintage shirt trail from the 1950s and discover the sport shirt .

Much less known than its sister shirt, the button-down collar Oxford shirt, the sport shirt was born from the same idea: to make the shirt more casual and comfortable, at a time when leaving the house in a t-shirt was unthinkable.

Its history would be linked to that of the Hawaiian shirt. At the end of the 1930s, the beginnings of aviation and tourism allowed tourism to take off. Many Americans living on the West Coast take the opportunity to go to Hawaii and bring back one of these flowered shirts as a souvenir.

In the second half of the 1940s, after the Second World War, American manufacturers took advantage of this collar, added pockets and made it in more sober fabrics, sometimes with short sleeves and sometimes... with long sleeves.

In this photo above, look at the men on the left and in the middle: this aesthetic speaks to me.

I choose to continue in this direction.

The quest for the right fabric

I presented this idea to Julien, our collection manager.

He nods and asks me what fabric I would see on this overshirt.

Previously, I had thought of several options but without a very precise idea emerging.

He then invites me to a meeting to show me some.

This is one of the parts of Julien's work that fascinates me the most: exploring ranges of fabrics from different suppliers, looking for those that will end up in our clothes and then on your shoulders.

We have quite a few samples in the office and when I see them, I can't help but examine them very closely.

This meeting promised to be full of great promises. And she held them. Oh yeah.

We spent more than 2 hours looking at dozens, even hundreds of fabrics together. Is this a clothes lover's paradise?

In the lot, there is one that I like more than the others: a speckled chambray from a Japanese supplier.

I have long enjoyed speckled materials.

Whatever the type of clothing, I always found that these little dots, these neps as they are called, gave them extra soul.

That's why something happened when Julien showed me this fabric.

In the background, you have the roughness of a Japanese fabric with different shades of blue and white.

But what's more, the fabric is dotted with irregular and colorful speckling which adds something even more. Specifically, you'll find hints of red, yellow, orange and green.

I'm a fan. Julien adds:

"As it is, this material is a little stiff. I'm going to ask the workshop for a wash to lighten it and soften it slightly."

A few weeks later, he sent me a message to come and see the result of the washed material:

The fabric is softer to the touch. It is also lighter, attracts the eye a little more, reveals other shades of color. Bingo.

Here is the identity card of this fabric : it is a medium weight chambray: on the scale, it weighs 185g/m2. Its composition is 99% cotton, 1% polyester. This small part of polyester corresponds to the colored speckling.

We have our form and now our matter. The garment is starting to take shape.

We could almost launch a first prototype.

Almost.

Indeed, there is still an important element missing.

A story of pockets

Flap or not flap, that is the question

What would an overshirt be without its pockets?

A little sad I think.

It was clear to me from the start that this garment would have two chest pockets.

My initial intuition was to put patch pockets without flaps, wanting to make them very clean visually.

Jordan and Nicolò expressed doubts about this choice, but we still assembled the first prototype following my instructions.

Once received, I realize that they were right, these buggers.

Without flaps, there is a sort of void at chest level.

So we decide to add them. I maintain my desire to have pockets with a refined style, which leads me to make two choices:

• Do not put buttons on the flaps
• Round the corners of the pocket more to add a touch of softness

At this moment, Julien encourages me to draw the flap as I visualize it, on the prototype.

Equipped with my pencil, I set out courageously... without success.

It was a memorable failure. Having no knowledge of model making and no knowledge of drawing, what I did didn't look like much.

This moment was immortalized:

With a touch of compassion, Émilie from the product department takes over and draws the flap on a sheet of paper that she pins to the garment:

We made this feedback to the workshop which assembled a second prototype with the requested flaps and the result gave us satisfaction:

A collar that impresses

Smile at life!

In addition to working on the pockets, I also took special care of the collar.

Turns out we already had a Cuban collar in our + collection. I took it and customized it to my liking.

our Instagram page tomorrow Tuesday evening at 6 p.m.

See you tomorrow !