Allevol Heavy Duty T-shirt
Japanese heavy duty textbook.
I write a whole t-shirt series where I review my tees after years of wear. Unfortunately, by the time I publish a review, most have already gone out of production. At least we get to see how they age. Quality things are supposed to age beautifully after all. Hopefully, these reviews also help make better choices when shopping for t-shirts both you and yours truly.
This time, it’s different though. The folks at Clutch Cafe hit me up with a t-shirt from their brand Allevol, founded by the store’s director Taka Okabe back in 2005. Not just another t-shirt, but the Heavy Duty Crew Neck Square Pocket L/S T-shirt. That’s a pretty darn long name for a t-shirt, I must say, even for a long-sleeved one. But it’s the “heavy duty” part that caught my attention.
W. David Marx in his wonderful book Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style wrote that the term “heavy duty” was coined by Yasuhiko Kobayashi in the 1970s to describe American outdoor style. A decade earlier Kensuke Ishizu introduced middle-class Japanese youth to the style of Ivy League students through his brand Van Jacket, followed by fashion magazines such as Men’s Club and Heibon Punch, where Mr. Kobayashi worked as an illustrator. Kobayashi considered heavy duty style to be the outdoor version of Ivy style, something that American students would wear when venturing into the outdoors. Nowadays, the term is mostly used to describe any clothing built in the style and up to the allegedly high standards of that era.
For Allevol, “heavy duty“ is not just a term though. Taka Okabe started his brand to bring Japanese denim (often referred to as heavy) to the UK before internet shopping hit. He then worked for Japanese magazines Men’s File and Clutch to finally launch the Clutch Cafe store in London, which is the epitome of heavy duty style. With a background like that, you already know we’re in for some textbook stuff here.
Allevol t-shirts are made in Japan from high-grade raw American cotton woven on vintage circular knitting machines. In reality, this translates to a thick, soft, and boxy t-shirt. Circular knitting is a way of knitting fabric in the form of a tube, without any seams, resulting in a uniform width throughout the length of a garment. Allevol’s fabric comes in thick to the point that you probably wouldn’t want to wear it as an undershirt unless you’re layering it with flannel shirts or sweatshirts. Yet, it’s surprisingly soft, with a noticeably slubby hand. Overall, this t-shirt has very much the weight of the All Blues Co. Pocket Tee with almost the same softness as Bleu de Chauffe Heavyweight Champion.
One unique feature of the Allevol tee that pleasantly surprised me (and most probably serves as a testament to the density of the fabric) is that it didn’t shrink whatsoever after a couple of washes. You might already know that I tend to go for a bigger size with my t-shirts to account for potential shrinkage over time. And, knowing that Allevol t-shirts are made in Japan and Japanese-made garments often fit small, I went for size XXL without a second thought. But in fact, it turned out that this Allevol tee fits true to size and doesn’t shrink. I don’t mind the oversized fit I ended up with since I wear my t-shirts tucked, but I would recommend going for your regular size.
Here are the actual measurements of my Allevol long sleeve t-shirt in size XXL:
Pit-to-pit: 60.5 cm (23.8 in)
Shoulder width: 52.5 cm (20.7 in)
Sleeve length: 62.5 cm (24.6 in)
Body length: 79.5 cm (31.3 in)
Coming at £80 (£65 for a short-sleeved version), this t-shirt isn’t cheap. Yet, it’s the most affordable option among heavy duty styles available at Clutch Cafe. Besides my appreciation of traditional production techniques, ethical working conditions, and natural fabrics of known origin, I can see years of wear in the Allevol tee. In fact, it’s exactly the garment you want to wear the hell out of to see how it ages and potentially turns into a true luxury. As always, I will keep you updated.
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