Up for sale here is a shirt from Japan’s Kapital label, one of a number of Japanese brands strongly influenced by American design and culture. Kapital are a bit different in that they have a very strong indigo influence for one, but also because some of their designs are a bit more “out there” than some of their contemporaries. They’re not a strictly work wear or vintage reproduction brand, but more use those tried and true silhouettes as a starting point and really do their own thing on top of that, offering in many cases pretty radical reinterpretations of work and vintage clothing.
In this case we have Kapital’s take on the classic tee. Kapital’s graphic sensibility is pretty underrated in my opinion, where their crazy knits or radical takes on proportion tend to get more attention. They produce some pretty cool tees too, this one being a good case in point.
The body here is a standard weight cotton in brown, the sort of woven, pleasantly uneven fabric you would expect from Kapital, likely done on vintage shuttle looms. There’s a v-neck detail, while the main twist comes in the print. The front just says “pp”, a bit strange on first glance, but when you look at the back you can see it spells “preppy”. It’s a pretty clever take and something that’s definitely unique. Front pocket is also a nicely contrasting light blue.
This is easily one of the rarer Kapital pieces out there, with their production runs being small pretty much all the way through. Retail on these pieces is around $100 in Japan, more abroad, although this model is now completely sold out. Get it here at a fraction of the retail.
Size is labeled a 2 and fits like a small. I measure the chest at 18.5” / 47cm, shoulders at 16.5” / 42cm, and length at 26” / 66cm. The shirt comes in lightly used, good shape. There is a bit of wear but no holes, tears or stains. Made in Japan.
Shipping from Japan to anywhere will be $24.
