How do you make clothing with purpose in a time that feels so purposeless? For 20 years, Daiki Suzuki’s Engineered Garments has labored to eliminate effort in menswear, building flak vests and cargo pants that do the work for their wearer through functional fabrications and an abundance of details like straps, pockets, snaps, and zips. Now, with nowhere to go, nothing to do, and no need for those dozens of pockets, what kind of engineering did Suzuki get up to at his flagship brand?
The answer, he wrote in a press release, has less to do with the science of garment making and more to do with the joy that clothing can bring into one’s life: “One word came to mind when thinking about this: décontracté, which is to say casual poise while maintaining a level of comfort and relaxation. To me it meant focusing on designing more casual styles, while still incorporating military-inspired details.”
Instead of bundled and tactical, the models in Engineered Garments’s spring 2021 look book appear carefree, unrestricted by their clothes. Through a global array of materials and patterns, ranging from Indian florals and madras to Breton stripes, as well as lightweight, elegant polyester twills and nylon-cotton blends, Suzuki fashioned lively clothing that alleviates stress. French army pants and jackets came in slouchy silhouettes, with a new drawstring trouser in a pintuck plaid that epitomizes EG’s workwear-as-loungewear proposition this season. There were also new “overpants”—think of them as even bigger, baggier pants that can be worn over other trousers or the brand’s summery printed shorts.
If you must leave the house, an olive ripstop trench with no shortage of buttons and belts will offer the protection from the outside world we are all desiring. (Perhaps pair it with a new bucket hat featuring, of course, a pocket on its side.) A collaboration with K-Way birthed outerwear, coveralls, and hats in packable nylon. The basket weave dobby fabric of Suzuki’s tailoring shimmered on the screen of my laptop Zoom, but don’t let the festive styling fool you. Engineered Garments’s clothing is still doing a lot of work for its wearers. This season’s job is spreading some good vibes.
