The MILITARY TEE / FOURTH BUT FIRST is a grey melange athletic tee that showcases a rubber print of the Fighting Eagle mascot, inspired by the 4th Fighter Wing. The rubber print has been applied by hand at our Kobe-based factory. Finishing the tee is a binder neck, designed to maintain the shape of the neckline over time and repeated washes.

The finish of this gray Melange MILITARY TEE / FOURTH BUT FIRST is made by blending different coloured fibres into one yarn. The resulting marled texture and colour ‘Heather’ - named for the Heather Plant - is synonymous with athletic training apparel from the 1920s - ‘50s. The reasons for its invention are numerous, amateur sports teams often played in solid black, white or hooped jerseys when the cost of coloured dyes was still prohibitive and the introduction of a gray fabric for sweatpants and sweatshirts, often worn while warming up or on the benches was beneficial for its neutrality. However, achieving a consistent gray colour was challenging with the technology of the time. The Heather finish was extremely forgiving in production, which benefited the factory’s bottom line with a higher yield of fabric and was ideal for sportswear, with the distortion effect meaning stains were harder to see, while the resilience of the fabric could be improved by using a mix of fibres.