By now you should be well aware that merino wool is the greatest material on planet Earth. Whether that’s true or not, we’ve been hit over the head enough times to largely believe it—close to a decade of wear testing merino from dozens of brands has helped too. This goes well beyond socks and base layers. Case in point, the new Limitless Merino Wool Shirt from Colorado-based advanced outdoor lifestyle apparel brand Western Rise.
Launched earlier today on Kickstarter (and already a cool $50k past their initial fundraising goal), the sleek button-down shirt is one of those pieces where you really need to read the fine print. From a glance, it appears to be like any other oxford—clean, utilitarian, and capable of being dressed up as easily as dressed down—but it’s in the details where the shirt earns its name.
The highly-technical fabric—developed in partnership with Australian purveyor of fine merino wool The Woolmark Company—is naturally anti-microbial, odor-resistant, fast-drying, and stain- and wrinkle-resistant.
We’ll admit this is far from the first button-down to be made in merino. Taylor Stitch spinoff brand CIVIC is literally built around making everyday apparel in merino, including button-downs. And Outlier has been making beautifully minimal apparel in high-tech fabrics for about a decade. But neither of their prices can match what Western Rise is asking, and tbh, the Limitless marketing campaign is a beast.
As someone who wears merino t-shirts every time I travel (why bring 3 shirts when one can easily last 72 hours), the prospect of a sub-$100 button-down with the same capabilities is beyond enticing. It’s easy to see why this followup to the Evolution Pant, which raised $600k on Kickstarter in 2018, is doing so well.
