Engineered Garments' New Designers Will Continue Engineering Garments (EXCLUSIVE)
Perhaps it's appropriate that Daiki Suzuki, founder and designer of American clothing institution Engineered Garments, didn't formally announce that he was stepping down from design duties. For nearly 30 years, Engineered Garments' intellectual reference points and immense influence on modern menswear was belied by a humble indifference to promoting anything other than its imminently wearable product.
But without Suzuki guiding Engineered Garments after its Fall/Winter 2025 collection, who will continue to engineer those garments?
Highsnobiety has spoken exclusively with Suzuki's successors, Kenta Miamoto and Kunimasa Odagi about Engineered Garments' future.
But, first things first. Engineered Garments' new designers are hardly "new." A representative of Engineered Garments' parent company, Nepenthes, describes Miamoto as having been Suzuki's "right hand" for over a decade. Odagi similarly has spent over 10 years working with Suzuki on collaborative endeavors that stretch back to the Woolrich days. (Note that Suzuki will continue to oversee these kinds of "special projects" for Engineered Garments as he's not entirely leaving the company)
"Designing as a duo, especially within the Engineered Garments universe, is less about dividing roles and more about building a creative dialogue," say Miamoto and Odagi, who spoke with Highsnobiety as a pair. "Taking the lead on Engineered Garments, even with Daiki Suzuki still involved, means balancing creative freedom with a deep respect for the brand’s heritage. You can’t work on Engineered Garments without feeling the weight of the past three decades. But it’s not a burden; it’s a guiding force."
Miamoto and Odagi's first Engineered Garments collection, "2 TONE," debuts for Spring/Summer 2026. As its name implies, it's a stylistic homage to both two-tone, the British subgenre that lead classic ska to its punkier revival, and The Specials, two-tone's most visible proponent.
Even with its 50-50 monochrome and color split, the collection is classic Engineered Garments — and yet, not quite. A casual EG enjoyer may observe its thematic distinctions without realizing that it was shaped by different designers (which, admittedly, is quite fair considering that Miamoto and Odagi have helped shape the better part of two-dozen prior EG collections).
However, those well-schooled in the brand's history will discern a slightly distinct timbre.
Recognizable Engineered Garments staples are here, from the hooded interliners to the ample military trousers. But subtle revisions are also at play, made overt by original styles like the bomberish Referee Jacket and more modestly manifested through subtle retooling. EG's familiar trad-ish, workwear-ish, milsurp-ish, menwear-ish design cues remain, they're just refreshed.
Though skirts, aprons, and shorts are all familiar elements of the Engineered Garments canon, for instance, hardly ever has an EG collection featured quite so many cropped, abbreviated, or layered pants.
"While our inspirations overlap with Daiki’s, we also bring in our own perspectives, shaped by things like generational changes, location, and personal experiences," say Miamoto and Odagi. "Leading the brand is about evolving these ideas thoughtfully, not completely reinventing them."
Longtime fans will still find plenty to like in the new Engineered Garments. Those Bedford Jackets, Carlyle Pants, 19th Century Shirts, and longline parkas aren't going anywhere (these new designers are quite conscious of what EG customers crave). But they will be accompanied by and reinterpreted in the name of newness, guided by the ever-present design philosophies established by Suzuki himself.
"The essence of Engineered Garments is carefully controlled contradiction," Miamoto and Odagi say. "It’s about balance – between chaos and precision, heritage and innovation and New York grit. It’s more than just a fashion label. At its core, EG is a philosophy of clothing: clothes meant to be lived in, layered, worn hard, and interpreted personally."
Miamoto and Odagi also offered some key lessons they learned from Suzuki. One may as well take these as a manifesto for new Engineered Garments, which is actually the old Engineered Garments. Because, really, it's all Engineered Garments.
"Design with purpose, not for attention.
Respect the archive, but don’t be controlled by it.
Imperfection is a signature, not a flaw.
Consistency builds a unique language.
Trust your instincts, even when they're subtle.
Don’t explain everything—let the wearer discover it.
Think about the whole system, not just the piece."
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