In the 2019 movie The Lighthouse, you can watch Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe play lighthouse keepers who slowly lose their minds while stranded on an island. You can also watch them wear some great sweaters. Outfitted in chunky knits, Pattinson and Dafoe look like they could handle both a shipwreck and a trip to New York Fashion Week. In other words, the movie offers to utilitarians what Phantom Thread did to Charles James stans. And it’s not surprising that a menswear brand like Engineered Garments would use it as inspiration for a collection.
Designer Daiki Suzuki is known for his stylish-yet-functional outdoor wear, and was inspired by Robert Eggers’s film when a friend recommended Suzuki watch it during the pandemic. “For this collection, I wanted to incorporate the film’s stylistic nuances to Engineered Garments’s staple uniform, work, and utility pieces in a cynical and twisted way, mixing in unexpected materials and textiles; adding an element of craziness to the classics,” he wrote in the collection notes.
He achieved his goal. The knee-length overcoats with fireman hook closures, floppy, wide-brim hats, and the prerequisite chunky knit sweaters evoke wild, blustery days on the Atlantic. The prints and varying textures add depth throughout the collection, including a blue seagull print, plaids, herringbone, and a ditsy floral for women. As for the aforementioned “element[s] of craziness,” the multi-sized pockets and draped pieces are, if not quite wild, at least unexpected and fun. Knit vests, ponchos in bonded fleece and polyester, and a women’s raglan quilted jacket read almost blanket-like. They give the effect that you’ve grabbed whatever textiles were closest in an effort to get warm. This isn’t a collection you buy one piece from; the garments look best layered on top of each other to create a whole effect. Bon Voyage.
