Engineered Garments

Engineered Garments took its brand name from a pattern maker hired to draft the first round of patterns. She claimed that the clothes were not designed but engineered due to the vast amount of detailing involved in each garment. The designer of the collection, Daiki Suzuki, agreed. Details from American sportswear, outdoor clothing, and military uniforms are all included in the collection and give Engineered Garments unique and practical detailing missing in much of American sportswear today.
Daiki coveted American sportswear when growing up in Japan. To him, clothing which came out of the US was an interesting blend of design innovation and the latest in industrial manufacturing. He was mesmerized by the details and saw that American sportswear was affected in many ways throughout the decades from the immigrants who sewed the clothes to the industry specialists who designed and manufactured them. He came to appreciate the flaws and weaknesses in some of the manufacturing processes and thought they defined many of the American made clothes in a special way. "Those clothes have a natural, post modernist & deconstructive quality about them. If a button falls off you sew another one on but it probably won't match and this makes it uniquely yours. When you find a garment that you love to wear it survives with you in its own way and becomes a second skin. It is these clothes which I want to make, clothes that you love wearing and become yours through the experience you have with them."

Anorak cotton jacket. Available in red only.

Sweet cotton shirt dress. Available in grey glen plaid, navy voile and as pictured.

A dress for summer... if it ever comes.

Our lovely model wearing Stella Love at a recent fashion show presented by The Stranger. Photograph by Laurie Clark.

Spring!

Sofie D'Hoore

Sophie D'hoore is a graduate of the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts. Originally trained in dentistry, her interest in fashion eventually lead her to change careers. After working in Italy for a period, she moved back to Brussels and created her first label with partner Chantal Spaas called 'Fashion Ink'. In 1992 Sophie decided to split with the label and design under her own name, known for it's purist aesthetic. Her modern designs are understated, flattering and created for a woman who values style over trend-lead fashion.

Also available in grey + navy. Great everyday dress.

Fantastic graphic print dress. The best party dress ever and only one more left.

Awesome retro color combination sweater. Shown with khaki cotton skirt with pockets. Almost every dress or skirt Sofie makes has pockets!

Also, available in matte grey cotton. Sleeveless,
exposed dart dress.

Junya Watanabe

Junya Watanabe is a Japanese fashion designer, originally the protege of Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo. Born in Fukushima, Japan in 1961, he went on to attend Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo, graduating in 1984.[1] At this time he began his apprenticeship at Comme des Garçons as a patternmaker. In 1987, he was promoted to chief designer of Tricot knitwear line and then moved on to design for the Comme Des Garçons Homme line. Starting in 1992, he has worked under his own name as part of Comme des Garçons. He started his own line under the Comme Des Garçons name called 'Junya Watanabe Comme Des Garçons' in 1993 and began showing in Paris that same year.
Watanabe, like his mentor Rei Kawakubo, is renowned for designing innovative and distinctive clothing. He is particularly interested in synthetic and technologically advanced textiles and fabrics as found in his spring/summer 2001 line but also uses more traditional materials such as cotton in his spring/summer 2003 collection. Watanabe is often considered to be a 'techno couture' designer, creating unusually structured clothes out of modern, technical materials.
In 2007, Watanabe was licenced by Converse to design a series of All-Star shoes.
In April 2009, First Lady Michelle Obama wore a blue-patterned cardigan designed by Watanabe on a visit to the Royal Opera House during her and President Barack Obama's trip to London.