There is a version of the Akan Sankofa proverb that reads: "It is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind." That sentence encircles the back of this shirt. It was chosen because it does not romanticize the act of looking back. It treats it as necessary work.

The Look Back Tee is the first wearable object in The Crafted Narrative's Look Back project, a multi-phase cultural work rooted in ancestral memory, lineage research, and the Sankofa principle. The shirt is a totem before it is a garment.

It is made with certified Black-grown cotton from Eastern North Carolina, sourced through Comoco Cotton — a company whose entire supply chain traces back to Black farmers. The fabric is natural and undyed, a deliberate choice. The color you see is the cotton itself, unaltered. That decision matters here, because Look Back is a project about what persists when you stop covering things over.

The construction is built to last: double needle hems with 10 stitches per inch, polycore thread, tubular body with no side seams, and a black contrast cover tape at the neck for durability and long-term comfort. The cut is boxy and unisex — the kind of shape that wears well over time, works for layering, and does not ask to be styled into relevance. It already knows what it is.

On the chest: [ LOOK BACK ], bracketed in a typographic treatment that reads like an instruction and an invitation at the same time.

On the back: The Crafted Narrative's Sankofa bird, surrounded by the proverb that grounds the entire project.

This is a 5.2 oz medium weight jersey — substantial without being heavy, breathable without being thin. It is a daily piece that carries something larger than itself.

Fabric: 100% Black-grown cotton, natural undyed

Fit: Boxy unisex — size down for a more fitted silhouette

Construction: Double needle hems, 10 stitches per inch, tubular body, no side seams