Brand: Engineered Garments

Season: SS20

Key Pieces: For next year’s spring/summer season, Engineered Garments has reinstated one of its most recognizable prints; the punchy Hawaiian Floral. Seen in previous seasons, the brand’s now-staple pattern is reapplied to blazers, parkas, pants, and more. Next to this, an embroidered floral iteration, new to the brand’s repertoire, is seen applied to signature denim layers such as Harrington jackets, work bibs, vests, and funnel-neck jackets.

Release Date: TBA

Buy: Online at nepenthes.co.jp, together with all brick-and-mortar NEPENTHES and Engineered Garments stores.

Editor’s Notes: Continuing in its quest to present a futuristic vision of tried-and-true workwear staples, Engineered Garments has reintroduced some of its core patterns across a number of recognizable silhouettes for SS20.

Aligning well with what seems to be a revival in floral patterning, a case strongly supported by fashion week standout, Dries van Noten, Engineered Garments SS20 contrasts such eccentricity with the usual spate of functional, utilitarian layers.

With floral being a particularly tricky style to pair, Engineered Garments, helmed by designer Daiki Suzuki, bit the proverbial pattern bullet and threw the collection head on into a clash of other patterns and bright, blocked colors. Meshing florals with African patterns, and balancing the two with hard-line utilitarianism and subdued hues of khaki and navy, the New York City imprint lays the groundwork for pulling off fashion that “clashes.” Suzuki has successful created a collection that is in parts whimsical, and serves to defy the taboos of contemporary fashion -- an approach pioneered in higher-fashion circles by the likes of Marni.

In slide #9, floral shorts are styled with a loose-fitting khaki hoodie and layered underneath a deconstructed mid-length car coat. The punchy pattern is complimented by muted, military-style hues and contrasting fabrics. Slide #13 has, through the deployment of a predominantly pastel palette, allowed for a striped blazer to compliment a floral tie. Touches of patterning serve to smooth the somewhat tough appeal of military-inspired pants, creating a look that is as easy-going as it is functional.