――At a glance, it's a very simple shirt. Is this broadcloth?

Minami: Yes.

――To be blunt, what made you want to make this shirt in the first place?

Minami: The thing is, I love a good lie-in. I just want to stay in bed all day.

――...Excuse me?

Minami: The idea behind this shirt was "what if I could go outside in my bed sheets?" That way, it would be like being in bed all the time. So the essence of this shirt is the fabric - it's used for high-end bed sheets.

――Ok, that might be the purest definition of comfort.

Minami: Right. But sheets rub against the body, so they actually need more durability than fashion fabrics. We made this using 140-count ultra-fine yarn, and the fabric came out incredibly beautiful.

――I've never seen sheets this refined.

Minami: It's beyond sheet-level at this point (laughs). We made it using Supima cotton yarn, something even luxury bedding rarely does. I love Suvin and Supima - Suvin has a moist, slinky feel, while Supima is drier, softer on the skin. So for something worn directly on the body, the latter is better. Suvin suits outerwear and pants - even knits and cut-and-sew. But for shirts, Supima felt right.

――Even within extra-long staple cottons, there are personalities.

Minami: You know Sea Island Cotton, right? Suvin is a Sea Island × Indian hybrid grown in India. Supima is a cross of Egyptian × American cotton grown in America. So things change depending on the region - it's like wine.

――Yet despite the sleeping inspiration, it doesn't look like pajamas (laughs).

Minami: It's been tailored like a full dress shirt. It's casual, but stitched with very fine needlework. The collar uses a non-fused interfacing, so it stays soft - not really suitable for ties, but relaxed whether the top button is closed or left open. The key thing is it can be thrown on casually and worn by itself.

――Does it come in sizes 1, 2, and F like the Oxford Shirt?

Minami: Yes. And size F has a much lower yoke than the other sizes.

――You're right, it's not just scaled up - the proportions change.

Minami: Exactly. I really care about how the back drape and ease appear. Western sizing simply enlarges everything - that's not what we wanted. Each size is intentionally designed.

The back body of size F. Even without comparing it to the other sizes, you can see how low the yoke sits. That balance, together with the pleats on either side, creates ease across the back that is neither too much nor too little.

――Famous shirtmakers like Turnbull & Asser or Charvet make stunning plain shirts, but mostly for dress wear.

Minami: If it became too formal, it would stray from what I wanted - a shirt that looks good washed and worn casually. Also, stiff collars wouldn't match this fabric. This soft collar suits the overall texture - a stiff one would feel off.

――So you made it assuming there would be slight puckering at the seams?

Minami: Yes. I wanted the natural wear - the fading, the washed look - but still keeping that refined impression. And it came out exactly as I had pictured it. We kept redoing it. I think in the end it took us around six months to a year, tweaking and adjusting, to get it right.

――What was the hardest part?

Minami: The pattern cutting. Looking at the proto-samples, we went through multiple redos regarding the shape of the armhole. I'm not keen on garments with small armholes.

――This is what they call a shallow armscye, right?

Minami: Exactly. But dropping the armscye creates excess where the chest meets the arm. So I said, "Lower it - but don't let the excess appear." Ridiculous, I know.

――That sounds painful.

Minami: The pattern cutters we've used are very talented and they understand how I want things cut at Graphpaper, so it's become easier. With new pattern cutters, without that relationship, it's very difficult to communicate things at first because they can't grasp what I'm looking for. In that sense, it usually takes about six months to a year for the development cycle of our staple pieces.

――That's only possible for brands like yours, which don't release completely new models every season.

Minami: Yeah, that's true. We might not release something for years, then one day, suddenly - bam - it arrives. Like, "We finally finished socks."

――From an industry view, that timing looks intentional, or so you'd think (laughs).

Minami: Not at all (laughs). It just means we finally made something worthy of showing. For socks, when the sample comes up from the factory, I put it through hell - wear, wash, tumble-dry, over and over. I see what happens, make corrections, and repeat. Only what survives becomes a standard. Rather than relying on manufacturer lab tests, I prefer to test how I actually use it myself.

――So the testing is rougher than for normal garments.

Minami: Yes. "Wash 5 more times!" — that kind of thing. I love washing clothes, so I wash everything. I don't like clothes that can't be washed.

――So this shirt passed the Minami stress test. Did the mills, factories and pattern cutters ever question why you were so particular?

Minami: All the time. They say, "Impossible…" and I say "It's not" (laughs).

――I can picture their frustrations.

Minami: They do great work and are very talented. Maybe they've given up on resisting me - "Alright… what now?" (laughs). They do their best to look like they'd rather not. But they also work with other brands that are asking for even more extreme things. So compared to that, I think we're still OK (laughs).

――Better to clash and end up with something great than settle.

Minami: Exactly. Better than "not perfect, but fine." Maybe if I could read the room more, life would be different - but I can't.

――So once something starts bothering you, you can't ignore it?

Minami: Right. After we release something, I'll be wearing it all year round, so if I'm not happy with something, it's no good. Like, "The opening here isn't right, so try changing it by another 2 millimeters."

――So it's not like a classic becomes complete only because it's been released?

Minami: I think continual updating is important. A standard shouldn't stay untouched — it should keep getting better. Of course, no one is going to wear this shirt and say, "Hey, the armhole is different from the last one," right? But if someone did notice, I'd want them to come work for us (laughs). Still, for those who wear it long enough to notice such things, I want to keep improving it for them.

――We've heard the struggles behind making it, but ultimately, do you want people to wear this shirt with the same ease as being wrapped in bedsheets?

Minami: Exactly. What I wanted was a shirt you can throw on like a T-shirt. That's enough. People think shirts have to be crisp, ironed, and worn properly, but I want this to be more relaxed - worn casually. And when it softens with wear, when the collar gets a bit worn or dirty, you can just get the same one again. It's not meant as any kind of anti-thesis - I just looked around for a "simple, really good shirt" and couldn't find one. So I made it. That's all there is to it.