Up for sale here is a shirt from Mountain Research, one of those cult labels that doesn’t get the exposure it deserves outside of Japan. Before getting into the specifics of this piece, first some background on the label. Mountain Research is a line of “….. Research”, designed by Setsumasa Kobayashi, and started in 2007. Before …… Research, Kobayashi was the designer for a label called General Research, also very much a cult label in Japanese streetwear, very much a peer of Undercover, Bathing Ape and the like. General Research ran from 1993 to 2006. After that Kobayashi wanted to branch out into various types of clothing, hence the ….. Research label.
….. Research actually encompasses several labels, depending on where Kobayashi decides to focus. The longest running is Mountain Research. Other branches with intermittent releases have included Naval Research, Prisoner Research, War Field Wear Research, Horse Blanket Research, etc., etc. With Mountain Research you essentially have the combination of a very forward-thinking punk aesthetic with more traditional outdoor wear. Kobayashi and Mountain Research have a lot of similarities with Undercover actually, where they’ve both got a pretty strong punk influence that they often apply. The idea here is to tweak classic outdoors wear to a more modern fit, often with interesting details and quality materials.
This piece is from the spring-summer 2014 collection, called the “training suit/top”. I believe the inspiration comes from classic track suits, where this is apparently a part of a set that includes matching bottoms. Inspiration draws from athletic apparel in this case, although it is elevated in terms of materials and execution. There are two main fabrics here, a gray wool on the body and a navy blue wool on the sides, both 100% wool. I believe this is a merino wool since it is nicely insulating and not itchy, although it is not tagged as such. Nonetheless, this is a very good mid layer where it should help to keep in the warm on the colder days and can easily be layered under a jacket.
Details include a full zip that goes to the top of the neck, a small logo tag on the front and a semi-hidden zipped chest pocket, ideal for storing a phone. The chest pocket has some characteristic Mountain Research branding visible on the interior, as well as their classic neck tag and materials tag.
Like many of these smaller Japanese labels, Mountain Research produces in very limited quantities (they only have one shop in a residential Tokyo neighborhood). This particular model is now long gone. Japanese retail was around $250. Availability is even more limited outside of Japan, and it definitely would have run quite a bit more if you could find it.
Size is labeled a medium and fits true. Interestingly the incorporation of the navy fabric on the sides means that there are no side or shoulder seams on this piece, making exact measurements a bit difficult. I measure the chest at approx. 20”, shoulders at approx. 17”, length at 26” from the base of the neck, and sleeves at approx. 25” from the shoulder. The piece comes in lightly used, excellent shape with no holes, tears, stains or visible signs of wear. Made in Japan.
Shipping from Japan to anywhere will be $26.