The nepenthes galaxy and the pursuit of the original American style
In Japan, a lot of brands take inspiration from American vintage clothing and add to it some Asian twist that makes the clothe unique and far from being just a copy. Today we are going to go deep into a multi brand company, Nepenthes, that respect this principle for decades now.
Nepenthes: The parent brand
In 1988 Mr. Shimizu together with Daiki opened his vintage clothing shop. The concept was to sell unique American-style clothing that could not be found in Japan. At the beginning, the formula met with great success, but the development of the internet and the increase of second hand americana shops pushed the manager to develop his own clothes, in order to offer unique products but keeping the made in USA DNA. Ultimately it was this strategic choice that led to the expansion of the Nepenthes multi-brand around the world. With connections to the best suppliers around the world, Mr. Shimizu is able to design products of unparalleled quality, originality and alignment with their heritage.
Among the brands born from these various collaborations, we have engineered garments, that does collections mixing American workwear and elegant outfits, Needles whose look book seems to come straight out of old American movies and Sout2west8 which offers the ideal panoply for the urban fisherman.
Needles : The most famous
Needles is certainly the most popular sub brand of Nepenthes. This is thanks to Asap Rocky who put the brand in the spotlight. In general, people know more the trackpants, but Needles is way more than just those pants with fancy shapes and colours.
Needles is born in 1997 to counter the massive arrival of American vintage clothing in Japan. The brand’s very first-degree style, the uninhibited associations and a predominantly Japanese production have allowed the subline to make a name for itself.
Rebuild by Needles: Needles but rebuild
The other sub brand that has leaded nepenthes to its international popularity is Rebuild by needles. Created in 2012, the rebuild line basically takes the same inspiration as Needles, but this one is made from vintage American clothes that are cuts and rebuild.
Engineered garments: the more mature one
In my opinion, Engineered Garments is the most mature line of the nepenthes umbrella’s and the one who reflects the most what I imagine when I think about “americana” style.
As a big fan of the United States, Daiki Suzuki decided to settle in New-York by around the nineties to be closer to the supplier and to open a new vintage shop. Unfortunately, his shop didn’t work that well, so he had to close it. However, thanks to his very good connections with local supplier he started to produce several products in the garments district of New-York. Therefore, Engineered Garments is created in 2002 with the same core of idea for every line, produce americana clothing with a unique twist. In this line, originality is in detail, almost invisible to the untrained eye, EG (engineered garments) clothes are designed to combined comfort, elegance, and durability. The nerdy guy will notice stitch were there are not supposed to be and additional pockets, which are the trademark of the EG styles.
SOUTH2WEST8: The Urban Fisherman
South2west8 is clearly the most original brand from the nepenthes umbrella. Founded in 2003, This brand gets his inspiration from tenkara fishing, which is one of Japanese favourite sports. With technical fabrics, camo prints and all the fisherman kit, a man can be ready for every circumstance by choosing South2West8.
Sources
Untangling the Roots of Nepenthes’ Family Tree | Grailed
NEPENTHES London: Here’s Everything You Need to Know (highsnobiety.com)
Exploring the Nepenthes Universe (oneblockdown.it)
A History of Needles Japan | Grailed
Nepenthes : The founders of Needles et Engineered Garments | EN (graduatestore.fr)
Nepenthes London Online Shop — Needles, Engineered Garments & more
Engineered Garments: Daiki Suzuki’s Remix of American Workwear | Grailed
