RESEARCH CLUB SHIRT - CLOUD BLUE

This shirt reinterprets the classic bowling shirt by integrating an unexpected detail drawn from Eastwood Studio’s 1960s archives: a cross-over double-breasted closure, a rare construction for this type of garment, more akin to tailoring traditions than leisurewear. It thus merges elegance and ease within a balanced, singular silhouette.

Inspired by American culture, bowling shirts were defined by their generous volumes, contrasting panels, and personalized embroidery, often bearing names and clubs. After the decline of souvenir jackets in the 1960s, they emerged as the new souvenir garments, carriers of both personal and collective narratives.

On the back, a chainstitch embroidery depicts a Cogg boat—the emblem of the city of Paris—sailing before an Eiffel Tower reimagined as a lighthouse. This motif was crafted in Paris on an antique chainstitch machine, chosen for the richness of its relief and its fidelity to the productions of the 1950s.

More than a reinterpretation, this shirt affirms Eastwood Studio’s vision: to foster dialogue between craftsmanship and memory, archives and contemporaneity.

Context

By the late 1960s, as the production of souvenir jackets became more costly and complex, a new garment took over. The bowling shirt, inspired by American leisurewear, was manufactured and personalized in Japan to meet the demand of GIs.

It gained popularity thanks to more readily available materials and faster embroidery techniques, making production better suited to mass leisure distribution.

Embroidered with the names of clubs and teams, it became the uniform of a new camaraderie.

The Research Club shirt embodies this transition—transforming an everyday garment into a symbol of collective memory.