5 years in and you’ve been our sounding board since day 1. Through continual feedback (by way of IG messages, email replies, and face time), we’ve made edits here and there based on what you shared. When we asked what styles you wanted to see more of, you told us tops. Specifically, more tops with sleeves and longer lengths for days when you’re in the office, for errands, and even for the beach. After months of brainstorming (and inspirations from designs we personally wear to the office), pattern-cutting, and sampling, we came up with the Split-Back Mandar Shirt.
The Design
Before taking this to the sketches, we decided the best way to design a shirt fit for work was to actually take a look at the kinds of tops everyone was wearing on the daily. With that, we modeled this shirt after one that Ren, the co-founder, was wearing around the office one day. You’ve mentioned that you wanted a shirt option with a longer sleeve and length to make it more work-appropriate, and we listened.
One of the most unique details of the Split-Back Mandar Shirt is its high low hem detail, which makes it flexible for wearing and styling. The slit back detail was another touch we wanted to add to make the style a little more different from the average work shirt. If you take a closer look at the collar tab opening, you’ll see a little easter egg we put there. The distance between first and second button has a lot more space than a typical shirt would, reason being, even though we wanted to make this work-appropriate, we also wanted to give you the option of taking it casual if you wanted to (think beach cover-up).
The Mandarin Collar
Another detail we love is the Mandarin collar. Last month, we launched the Mandar Shirt, and we wanted this style to parallel that with its Mandarin collar detail. Of course this didn’t come without challenges, it took rounds of sampling and trial and error to get the right shape of the collar (so that it would sit well on different body types).
How to Wear This Top
The strength of this top is in its versatility, and we would recommend pairing this with our classic wideleg. As for prints, the choice is yours. You could always go monochrome with the Leharia Charcoal and IChing Charcoal, or go a little more bold to contrast the simple colourways of the Split-Back Mandar Shirt by sticking to the Leharia Watermelon Pink or Bhalka Rust. Tuck it in or wear it as is, the intention behind the design of the Split-Back Mandar Shirt was to make it diverse and appropriate for different functions.
Shop the Split-Back Mandar Shirt here.