NEW DESIGNER KNITS

Haute Tee

T-shirts, like denim jeans, are one of fashion’s great rags-to-riches stories. Once relegated to the status of “underwear,” they made their mid-century breakout when heartthrobs Marlon Brando and James Dean shrugged off their button-downs and turned the humble T into undeniable outerwear.

In the 1970s, designers like Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren propelled the graphic tee into the fashion spotlight with their provocative “God Save the Queen” design—a defining moment in the T-shirt’s evolution from undergarment to statement piece. Across the Atlantic, Calvin Klein refined the silhouette further, elevating the branded ready-to-wear T-shirt into a sleek, unmistakably modern fashion essential.

By the late 1980s, designers like Armani, Jil Sander, Helmut Lang, and Prada had transformed the once-basic T-shirt into an everyday luxury essential—precise in cut, refined in fabric, effortless in attitude. For those of us who sew our own, the T-shirt is something even better: pure permission to play.

Shown above is Butterick 6981 made with a trio of knits—Square Deal, Savanna Spots, and Ebony and Ivory Stripe.

NEW DESIGNER DENIM

Deadstock