For sale here is a shirt from the South 2 West 8 label, part of the family of labels run by the Nepenthes company, the same people that produce Engineered Garments and Needles, among other labels. Each of these brands has their own particular focus, and South 2 West 8 seems mainly oriented around outdoors wear, although they do some pretty radical reinterpretations.
This shirt comes in a medium weight knit cotton flannel, with a pretty strong twist coming in the multipocket detail. Where most of these kinds of shirts will go with two pockets at most, this one has six. At the very least you should be well covered if you want to carry a lot of stuff with you, although I think the appeal here is more for the visual contrast than anything. Still, it’s inherently practical if nothing else.
Another point to note is that the shirt is made in India. India has flown somewhat under the radar for their high quality textiles, often incorporating a lot of hand work. The weave of the fabric here is very intricate and super high quality. This looks to be the result of a vintage loom with a lot of character to it. It is not the sort of thing you often come across.
Like many of their contemporaries and other Nepenthes family labels, you can expect that the quality here is very good. These pieces are built tough and made to last, equally informed by vintage hiking gear and more fashion forward design. These pieces were available in limited quantities from Nepenthes shops (including in the US), although retail was in no way cheap. Get it here a much more reasonable price.
Size is labeled an XS and fits very relaxed, more like a relaxed medium or a large. I am not sure if the tag is mislabeled or they were just making highly oversized pieces. In any case, I measure the chest at 22” / 56cm, shoulders at 19” / 48cm, length at 27.5” / 70cm, and sleeves at 24.5” / 62cm from the shoulder. The shirt comes in lightly used, very good shape with no holes, tears, stains or visible signs of wear.
Shipping from Japan to anywhere will be $24.
