A shirt for sale here from the FDMTL label, otherwise known as “fundamental agreement luxury”, although they’ve been going by the more simple FDMTL name lately. FDMTL are one of the many smaller-scale Americana enthusiast manufacturers going at the moment in Japan. They’ve been around since 2005, but have been growing their stature more recently, focusing mainly on indigo and traditional Japanese techniques like sashiko and boro. In the last few years they’re amassed a pretty strong cult following both in and outside of Japan.
So the FDMTL label is all about different treatments, giving their products a worn-in and often reconstructed look. It’s an aesthetic that has a lot of parallels to what Visvim and Kapital are doing, especially with their more distressed and indigo-centric pieces, although they of course put their own unique take on things.
In this case we have FDMTL’s take on the classic button down shirt. The body is done in a damaged processed indigo chambray, made to look pleasantly worn-in and faded. Twist is pretty clear in this case, where the rear has a large custom bandana fabric sewn into the body. The bandana is actually two different bandana fabrics sewn together and likewise sewn to fit the body – notice that it follows the underarm seams perfectly. Between the indigo fabric and the rear bandana, you have a pretty unique piece here that fits in very nicely with the vintage Americana look that gets a lot of attention in Japan.
FDMTL remains on the smaller side of Japanese manufacturing, where they always produce in limited quantities and have limited distribution both in Japan and abroad. They put a considerable amount of work into their clothing, with these pieces retailing at about $300 in Japan alone (and even more abroad). Get it here much more reasonably.
Size is labeled a 2 and fits a medium well. I measure the chest at 20”, shoulders at 17”, length at 27” in front and 28” in back, and sleeves at 25”. The shirt comes in lightly used, excellent shape with no holes, tears or stains. Made in Japan.
Shipping from Japan to anywhere will be $24.