Worshipped by stylists, hoarded by editors, and worn by just about every celebrity from Kate Moss to Chrissy Teigen, the Equipment shirt is (in this author’s opinion) indisputably the go-to top for everyone in fashion. Period. But how did this come to be? What was the secret recipe of serendipitous ingredients that created such a monopoly on the buttoned shirt market? To solve this sartorial riddle, we turned to the past for answers.
Christian Restoin founded the brand in Paris in 1976 with the intention of homing in on classic menswear-inspired shirt designs. Icons like Jane Birkin, Catherine Deneuve, Yoko Ono, and Lauren Bacall adopted the label into their wardrobes further catapulting Equipment into twenty years of successful business. After two decades, Restoin moved on from the label, however in 2010 Serge Azria brought it back to life.
“Two years after it all started, I didn’t know any one celebrity of otherwise, who didn’t own an Equipment shirt. I remember retailers flying back to Paris just to ship boxes worth back to the States,” Azria said in Equipment’s 40th anniversary press release. “Equipment was, for its two decade span, the Levis 501 of buttoned shirts: easy, cool, classic—a wardrobe staple.”
Since its revival six years ago, Equipment has collaborated with creatives across the spectrum, including Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince of The Kills, the imitable Parisian Caroline de Maigret, and of course, Daria Werbowy, who did a massively popular self portrait series for the brand’s Fall 2014 ad campaign.
So it seems, the Equipment shirt’s ability to stand the test of time can be attributed to its wearers. A hodge podge of insouciant, creative women (and men!) that bring their version of je ne sais quoi to the table. And that never goes out of style.
In celebration of the brand’s 40th anniversary, see below for a special look at the Equipment archives. Also, be sure to snag a buttoned shirt for yourself (it is the holidays, after all.)
via Who What Wear http://ift.tt/2fACIP0
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