In summer, it can be all too easy to live in jeans/jorts and a tank top/T-shirt, however if you want to add more design flair to this uniform one easy substitute is to swap out the white cotton tee for a top with more personality. Smocking has long been associated with summer, however we haven’t seen as many crinkly tops in new-in sections since Lizzie McGuire-coded popcorn tops invaded American malls in the early 2000s.
One designer who has been spearheading this movement is Conner Ives, who has reimagined logo tees by stitching an elastic thread through the fabric of vintage cotton T-shirts, to give them a unique shrunken, fitted silhouette with a shirred texture that is reminiscent of the aforementioned Y2K popcorn tops. This has become a design signature for Ives, with the technique applied to polo tops, basketball jerseys and football tops – each upcycled tee available to buy on the website is one-of-a-kind, while the fabric is also a running theme throughout the ready-to-wear-collections.
Conner Ives’s reconstructed football jerseys will appeal to eclectic dressers, however a lot of this summer’s smocked tops err towards a more minimalist aesthetic, with black tank tops, classic T-shirts and camisoles elevated with texture, adding more depth to an otherwise simple basic. Contemporary brands such as Ganni, Molly Goddard and Damson Madder are all having a crinkled summer, while on the high street & Other Stories and M&S have plenty of shirred, classic designs that will bring a little extra something to your jorts and T-shirt uniform.
