Reinventing the Dress Shirt with NASA Technology
In a certain way, men’s business suits are pretty great. They have barely changed in the last 100 years. A man can get away with wearing a decent suit over and over, washing it a few times a year.
Men’s dress shirts are different story. They wrinkle in moments. The nice ones tear like tissue. They stain easily–either getting the ring around the collar, pit stains or showing the slightest splash of coffee.
A company called Ministry of Supply is seeing if they can improve upon this fickle article of clothing. The company, which started as a Kickstarter project, has already raised $430K of its $30K goal–leading us to think that guys are looking for superior dress shirts.
The shirts use a “phase change material” similar to that used in NASA space suits. The material stretches, has an anti-microbial coating to cut the stink, resists stains, breathes and wicks moisture and is wrinkle free. The shirts are 100% made in the USA. They look pretty good to boot.
As they have exceeded their Kickstarter goal, Ministry of Supply is taking orders for August and September deliveries. Available are two dress shirts: the Apollo for $105 and the Agent, at $85. There is a t-shirt and base layer available as well; $40 and $30 respectively.
Like the Outlier dress pants we looked at a while ago, Ministry of Supply is bringing smart design and technology to products we all need and regularly replace. While both companies’ prices might seem expensive to some (Outlier pants range from $135-240), consider that their products will last much longer, can be worn more than once, will be more versatile and comfortable than traditional models. A little extra dough up front seems like a good investment to us.