NCT « CHRISTOPHELOIRON®

Mister Freedom® “Naval Clothing Tailor” (NCT) CHINOS, 12 Oz. “Okinawa” denim, mfsc FW2020 “Waterfront Surplus”. Made in Japan.

Mister Freedom® “NAVAL CLOTHING TAILOR” (NCT) CHINOS, 12Oz “301 Okinawa” SC denim.
FW2020 mfsc “Waterfront Surplus” catalog.
Made in JAPAN.

This pattern was part of the original line-up of the small grouping that somewhat managed to put us on the fashion map sometime in 2008, i.e. the Mister Freedom® x Sugar Cane Co “MFSC Naval Clothing Tailor” (NCT) capsule collection.
For the nostalgics, we still unearth remnants from our ship’s stowage occasionally, a misplaced stack here, mislabeled box there, and we update inventory with New Old Stock (NOS).
A reissue of the original chino twill model was released for our 2016 mfsc ten-year anniversary, and we have issued several iterations of that pattern through the years.

Our NCT Chinos are inspired by 1940’s US Army chino trousers, a pattern plausibly revisited by a Naval Base tailor at some point, featuring a mix of period Mil-Specs and fancy civvy custom tailoring. The cut is fairly representative of our early days, featuring a slimmer leg and lower rise than military originals. We were at the time morphing the high-waisted and baggy cuts of 1930s-40s utilitarian designs with European tailored silhouettes. Most of our bottoms today feature a higher rise than our NCT Chinos.

For Fall 2020, we are introducing a denim model of the NCT Chinos pattern, cut from an old mfsc favorite, a 12Oz. “301 Okinawa” selvedge denim exclusively developed and trademarked by Sugar Cane Co in Japan. That special Left Hand Twill (LHT) denim has been milled in several fabric weights by SC through the years, but consistently consists of a blend of 20% Okinawan recycled sugar cane fibers and 80% cotton. The sugar cane fibers, a by-product of the sugar cane industry, are responsible for the slubby and “hairy” quality of the twill, and, full disclaimer, we have heard stories about customers plucking out prickly fibers in the weave with tweezers!

One of the more desirable characteristics of this premium denim is the combination of both a dark indigo warp and rapid fading ability. MF® OG denimheads will attest to the rewarding patina potential of the Okinawa denim family.

The pocket bags are cut from an old mfsc classic fabric, a fancy striped ticking twill inspired by antique French textiles. For a subdued demeanor, we kept the stitching tonal and opted for black-painted metal donut-type tack buttons for the fly and waistband.
The decorative arcuate stitch on the slash and welt pocket openings is a detail borrowed from early European tailoring. The leg construction uses flat-felled seams and the Okinawa selvedge is displayed in each pocket facing.

The Mister Freedom® NCT Chinos “Okinawa” denim edition, are designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co in Japan.

FABRIC:
“Okinawa 301” denim, 12 Oz. left-hand twill indigo denim, “hairy” and slubby, solid white selvedge ID. Milled in Japan on narrow shuttle looms, from a blend of 20% Okinawan recycled sugar cane fibers and 80% cotton.

SPECS:
* Pattern inspired by vintage 1940’s US Army chino trousers, custom-made military garments and early European tailoring.
* Stripe ticking 100% cotton pocketing and waistband facing.
* Button fly, black-painted metal donut-type tack buttons.
* Thin trousers-style belt-loops.
* Arcuate decorative stitching on front slash pockets and back welt pockets, with concealed selvedge ID on pocket facing.
* Watch pocket, with concealed selvedge ID.
* Flat-felled leg seams.
* Tonal 100% cotton hi-count stitching.
* Woven mfsc “Waterfront Surplus” rayon label on inside waistband.
* Designed in USA.
* Made in JAPAN.

SIZING/FIT:
The Mister Freedom® NCT Chinos in “Okinawa” denim come RAW/unwashed. The garment is cut so that the measurements match the labeling after an initial cold soak/line dry. The denim will shrink to tagged size after an initial cold soak.
We recommend this usual protocol before wear:

Cold soak for about 30-40mn with occasional hand agitation.
Washing machine spin dry.
Line dry. (No heat dryer)

I opted for a W32 for a comfortable fit. I hemmed my pair to my preferred length with a traditional 1¾ fold. I am 5.7’’ approx. 150 Lbs.
Please refer to sizing chart for approximate raw/soaked measurements.

CARE:
Wash when necessary, using appropriate methods pertaining to premium denim.
We recommend turning garment inside-out to avoid potential marbling of the denim fabric. Wash separately from light-colored garments.
Machine wash with cold water, gentle cycle, eco-friendly mild detergent and line dry. Using a heat dryer may result in excessive and irreversible shrinkage.
As with all indigo-dyed denim, temporary croaking (color bleeding) is to be expected, as the indigo color could potentially rub on light color garments and furniture. Indigo rubs can easily be spot cleaned using a small amount of laundry detergent on a clean damp cloth.

Available RAW (unwashed)

Waist 28, 30, 32, 34, 36 and 38.

Available from www.misterfreedom.com, our Los Angeles brick & mortar store, and fine retailers around the World.
Email [email protected] or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above.
Thank you for your support.

Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom®
©2020

Mister Freedom® “SECOYA” Double-Back Ventilated Work Shirt, Selvedge NCT Chambray, SS2019 mfsc SURPLUS catalog, made in Japan.

Mister Freedom® “SECOYA” Double-Panel Ventilated Work Shirt, selvedge “NTC” Chambray.
SS2019 mfsc Surplus Collection.
Made in Japan.

For this mouthful of a shirt, the “SECOYA” Double-Back Ventilated Work Shirt in selvedge “NTC” Chambray, we basically combined two classic vintage work shirt patterns lifted-off two specimen of the MF® archives, located at 7161 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036, USA, and open daily from 11:00PM to 06:00PM, unless we’re gone fishing, or getting our nails done next door.

Design-wise, we simply merged one rare and plain 1930’s pull-over chin-strapped no-name work chambray, with the tricked-out “Double-Panel” pattern of a vintage 1940’s STURDY OAK work chambray.
If the workwear division of Sears, Roebuck & Co under the STURDY OAK label produced the famous “Double-Back / Double-Shoulder Yoke / Double-Underarm” pattern, often complimented with “Ventilation Eyelets”, other mail-order catalog companies such as Montgomery Ward & Co, Spiegel or JCPenney also offered a version in the 1940’s -50’s. We have yet to see one in a pull-over pattern, but it probably existed.

For the moniker, secoya is Spanish for sequoia, an obvious woodsy reference to the rugged and manly “STURDY OAK” label. Other innocent candidates thrown about around the office at the time, such as “The Woody”, didn’t pass the MF® Censoring Dept.
So, SECOYA it is, a hard choice.

: 1940’s “Sturdy Oak” and 1930’s no-name vintage chambray shirts, inspiration of the Mister Freedom® “SECOYA”. (2019)

: 1940’s catalog courtesy of Mr Fukutomi, pattern maker extraordinaire.

As a design anecdote, the aforementioned vintage STURDY OAK chambray shirt from our archives was initially scored without buttons. We opted to attach a mixed bag of vintage tin-pressed type buttons on it, before sending the shirt to Sugar Cane Co for the next R&D stage. Mr. Fukutomi, Toyo’s one-and-only talented pattern maker, sourced-out replica of these exact same buttons, and managed to re-create the same effect on his first prototype. We decided to keep that ‘random’ miss-matched look for production. On period workwear pieces, with buttons falling-off and garments getting repaired instead of being discarded, finding a combination of contrasting buttons on one single garment is not uncommon.

For the fabric of the ‘SECOYA”, another stroll down Memory Lane brought us to our earliest collaboration with Sugar Cane Co: the 2008 mfsc “Naval Clothing Tailor” collection. We decided to have another fresh batch of “NCT selvedge chambray” milled in Japan, to the exact same specs as our original 2008 “mfsc Nº645 Utility Chambray”, a shirt familiar to the MF® OG’s, back when exposing the selvedge on a garment sounded like a good idea.

For a conspicuous texture and color contrast irresistible touch, the facing of the button plackets/cuffs/chest pockets is cut from another mfsc old salt favorite, a fine indigo-dyed and tightly-woven cotton poplin with promising fading properties.

Due to the double layers, multiple stitched seams, contrasting poplin facing and overall high-count cotton stitching, subtle variation of shrinkage will result in attractive puckering and roping, giving the “SECOYA” a vintage garment look after just a few normal laundry cycles.

The “SECOYA” Double-Panel Ventilated Work Shirt is designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in Japan by Sugar Cane Co.

SPECS:

FABRIC:
Fine and lightweight 3 Oz. indigo yarn chambray with a white/red selvedge ID, milled in Japan.

DETAILS:
* An original mfsc pattern, inspired by vintage 1930’s-1940’s classic American fancy chambray work shirts.
* Pull-over style.
* “Double-Back / Double-Shoulder Yoke / Double-Underarm” pattern.
* Ventilation Eyelets on underarm and back panels.
* Selvedge side gussets.
* Chin-strap.
* Indigo poplin facing of the front button plackets/cuffs/chest pockets.
* Mismatch combination of vintage-style tin-pressed metal painted buttons.
* Double chest pocketing, buttoned pockets.
* High-count 100% cotton tonal stitching, chainstitch construction.
* Original MF® mfsc “Surplus” woven rayon label.

SIZING/FIT:
The “SECOYA” chambray Work Shirt comes raw/unwashed.
We recommend the usual initial 30mn cold soak/occasional hand agitation/spin dry/hang dry process. The tagged size reflects the size of the garment after going through this process.
The “SECOYA” is true-to-size. I opted for a MEDIUM, my usual size in mfsc shirting. The fit is quite trim, well-balanced between enough room to pull the shirt on and off without too much struggle, and a flattering a slim silhouette.

Please refer to chart for approximate raw/soaked measurements. This explains how we size our garments.
Soaked = 30mn cold soak, spin dry and line dry.

CARE:
Wash when necessary.
Machine wash with cold water, gentle cycle, eco-friendly mild detergent and line dry.

Available RAW/un-washed.

Sizes
Small
Medium
Large
X-Large
XX-Large