4x4 Fiat Panda T-shirt by Misspent Summers

Versatile, stylish, timeless. There’s nothing quite like a Fiat Panda 4x4, especially, like Misspent Summers*, if you are based in Italy.

Pandas are everywhere in Italy and for good reason: They last forever, they’re dependable, they’re nimble and’ll get you in and out of any situation imaginable. If only mountain bikes were all Panda-spec.

We’ve always admired Panda 4x4s but have never been able to afford one, so we made a t-shirt instead.

Hope you like it.

*Our Euro office is at Finale Work Space in Finale Ligure – come say hi if you’re in the area

Fiat Panda t-shirt spec:

• 100% GOTS certified organic cotton; OEKO-TEX certified; Peta-Approved vegan; Fair Wear fabrication
• Classic fit – neither too tight nor too baggy
• Printed to order in the UK using OEKO-TEX certified inks and carbon offset energy
• No plastic packaging used
• Featuring one Fiat Panda 4x4 and a Misspent Summers logo
• Misspent Summers classic logo printed inside the neck
• Sizes XXS-5XL
• £32

This t-shirt is made to order – here’s why

When we started selling mountain biker clothes in 2020, we only printed using made-to-order (also called drop shipping) companies. This allowed us to set up without investing in a big print run; it also meant we wouldn’t end up with any unsold stock if people didn’t buy a certain design. We sold quite a few t-shirts that year, relatively speaking (we’re only a tiny company).

But by the end of 2020 we had realised that the company we were using to print, while efficient and using some organic materials, were sending out packages packed full of plastic. That didn’t sit well with us, and we couldn’t do anything about it – the company was too big to care what we had to say. So we stopped everything. It was kind of a stupid decision in terms of business because sales were going well, and Christmas was just around the corner (the time when most people buy stuff). But we knew we’d be happier in the long run knowing that we weren’t sending out piles of unnecessary plastic.

It took a while, but eventually we got a stock of new t-shirts and things in our warehouse, all printed on GOTS-certified organic material in the UK using renewable energy. Now we could take charge of the packaging. Since then, we’ve shipped a lot of t-shirts (relatively – we’re still tiny) and we’ve been happy that every time someone orders a tee, we know it’s being sent with care.

However, late in 2023, after putting a kindly university student on a placement to work researching sustainable printing options in the UK, we decided to start printing some clothing to order again. We could do this because we had now found a suitable company (Inkthreadable) to produce our clothing: they hold the same standards as we do, with mindful manufacturing, no plastic packaging and an eye for quality.

Now, all our new clothing is made to order. If something proves popular, we invest in a screen-printed run of the product that we can then store at our warehouse, meaning it is sent out in the same package as any books, mags, zines and other products stored at HQ.

By ordering our made to order products, you are helping us figure out what mountain bikers like.