Comme des Garçons Triple-Layer Mesh Tee

Layering is usually something the wearer does. Here it has been done inside the garment: three thicknesses of mesh, each finishing at a different point, so what you get is a single shirt that already looks like three. The consequence is that the hemline is not a line at all but a sequence, and it stays that way whatever you wear underneath, which is not true of layering you assemble yourself. Mesh is the reason it works rather than reading as bulk. An open structure lets you see through each layer to the one below, so the three lengths register as three different densities of black rather than as three separate shirts stacked up, and the shirt gains depth without gaining weight. The cutouts under the arms are the practical half of the same thought: they open the sides, which changes how the layers fall and lets the shirt be worn several ways from one cut.

Why we selected it

Most layering pieces make you do the work and then let you get it wrong. This one arrives with the decision already made and still leaves you somewhere to go with it.

Building the layering into the garment rather than leaving it to the wearer is a recurring main-line method, and a mesh tee is its lightest possible form.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent polyester. Made in Japan. Three mesh layers of differing lengths, with cutouts under the arms. Color: black.

Fit notes

Mesh has give without stretch and the three layers move independently, so the shirt sits loosely and is not asking to be fitted. The underarm cutouts mean the sides are open, which is worth knowing before you decide what goes under it. Choose for the shoulder.

Styling

Over the Tank Top, so the sequins register through the mesh instead of head-on. With the Pleated Trouser or the Nylon Balloon Trousers, where a light open top against a heavy structured bottom is the whole balance. Under the Asymmetrical Blazer.

Care

Mesh in polyester washes easily and snags easily, so the hazards are hooks and heat rather than water. Wash cool, ideally in a bag, keep it away from anything with a fastening, and do not iron it. Our care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The Eyelet LS with Mesh Overlay sets an eyelet cloth under a sheer mesh. There is more on the house on the Comme des Garçons designer page. Everything we carry from Comme des Garçons is listed together.