AVAILABLE THURS, 3/31/22
Collaborating with Engineered Garments for our 10th Anniversary has felt like a real celebration. After all, E.G. and its designer Daiki Suzuki played a pivotal role in how we started Battenwear in the first place.
In 2002, 10 years before Battenwear began, Shinya moved from Tokyo to New York City to join a 2 year program at the Fashion Institute of Technology. While his classmates created outfits and collections, Shinya turned his attention to logos, marketing strategies, and the history of iconic brands. He wanted to understand the history of clothing and what made great clothing great.
As luck would have it, a couple of years after Shinya was graduated from FIT, Daiki Suzuki of the famed NY brand Engineered Garments, was looking for an assistant designer to help him with the Woolrich Woolen Mills Project for W.P. Lavori. And even luckier, he was interested in finding someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of vintage outdoor and sports clothing more than someone who had studied design. A mutual friend* made the introduction, and before he knew it, Shinya had entered design school courtesy of Professor Daiki.
For the next four years, Shinya was Daiki's hands--taking Daiki's ideas and making them into physical garments and accessories for Woolrich Woolen Mills. Collection after collection, Shinya learned how to build an aesthetic around a concept, tie everything together through colors and fabric textures, and then hit hard with comfort and functionality. A better school does not exist than the streets of Manhattan's Garment District, and Shinya soon knew all anyone basically needs to know to about fabric, trim, patterns, grading, cutting, sewing, and finishing.
When the Woolrich Woolen Mills project was wrapping up, and it came time for Shinya to “graduate,” Daiki was among those who encouraged Shinya to start his own brand. And once Shinya took the leap, Daiki kept a pile of Battenwear (well, actually Batten Sportswear, at the time!) lookbooks in his EG showroom to share with stores, sending buyers over to our showroom on the next block. He threw a big party for the Batten Sportswear pop up at his then new Nepenthes NY Store to celebrate our launch of Spring/Summer 2012. There was no obligation for him to share his well-deserved and considerable spotlight with us, but he’s a good guy and a good friend.
So that’s the story of why we are so excited to be doing this collaboration. It gives us a chance to say a big THANK YOU to Daiki and all of those at E.G. who helped us over the years.
The reason why you should be excited?: the Battenwear x Engineered Garments collab turned out spectacularly! We asked Daiki to take two core, longtime best selling Battenwear items and reimagine them in his own style. For the collab Packable Anorak, Daiki chose Tie Dye and a custom EG Leopard Print. Then Daiki went on to rethink our Camp Shorts with a multi-fabric construction. The results are super satisfying, and we're really excited to share them with you!
Battenwear x Engineered Garments 2022 will be available for purchase at the Nepenthes NY Store and Battenwear.com starting 3/31/22. You can also find it at select retailers internationally.
We hope you can stop by the Battenwear 10th Anniversary pop up 3/31/22 – 5/31/22! Please also check out the accompanying art exhibit art by Bryan Whitney and Robert Palumbo.
We'll also have other mini collabs throughout the pop up, including with the *friend who introduced us to Daiki in the first place.
OPENING PARTY 3/31/22 7-9PM @Nepenthes NY
