Both Nouws and Suzuki share common roots in retail, and this project speaks to their love of an industry that taught them discipline and awarded valuable experience selling product, monitoring trends, and crafting a one-of-a-kind customer experience. Their shared experience in specialty retail is the bond from which this exciting collaboration was born.
We are a men’s clothing brand that started in New York in 1999. Our concept is to reinterpret and reconstruct classic American workwear and uniforms from the good old days, blending them with vintage styles and classic Ivy aesthetics to create something new that reflects the current mood.
The retail experience I gained in Tokyo during the 1980s taught me everything I know about fashion design. From communication with customers to understanding market trends and product direction, and from the wide range of products we handled I learned about fabrics, details, fits, and more. Window decoration, buying, planning—it all came together over eight years to give me the foundation necessary to become a designer.
We respect and value the original ideas of each staff member. In situations where budgets and possibilities are very limited, great ideas are the key to success. That’s why we try to build an environment where our staff are surrounded by well-curated products that sharpen their senses, can accumulate knowledge, engage with highly perceptive customers, understand the market, and connect with our vision and the style we aim for—so that they’re inspired to come up with their own unique ideas.
I first encountered KARHU on a buying trip to Scandinavia in the early 2000s. In the U.S. or Japan, the market is dominated by major brands like Nike, Adidas, and Reebok, but in Scandinavia, local brands also stood out, which I found fascinating.
The first pair of KARHU I got for myself was the Mestari. Once I started working with KARHU, I learned about its history—particularly its influence on Adidas’s three stripes and their innovations in air sole technology. That’s why I chose the Mestari as the best model from that era. Personally, I’ve always loved the style and colour combinations of the 1970s.
As I mentioned earlier, I really like the 1970s style and colour palettes. The idea behind this project was to recreate that feeling in the present by incorporating all the typical colour combinations that were popular back then—blue paired with white, yellow, green, orange—into a single pair.
I’m always sketching. I’ve sometimes used drawing apps in the past, but I believe hand-drawing is the best way to understand an object’s details. You can’t draw something unless you grasp its shape, position, and scale. During the sketching process, new ideas often emerge from my own experiences and knowledge. Even when hand-drawn, sketches are powerful—they’re the most effective way to share ideas with others.
Many of my past projects have started from these sketches, and through communication with collaborators and the process of creating samples, we’ve brought them to life as actual products.
Interviewer: Remko Nouws
Interviewee: Daiki Suzuki
Photography by Engineered Garments
KARHU x Engineered Garments Mestari sketch by Daiki Suzuki
MESTARI
CLASSIC BLUE/WHITE
€110,00
Originally released in the 1970s, the iconic Mestari silhouette remains a classic in sneaker design. With its clean lines, vintage aesthetic, and timeless appeal, it embodies authentic craftsmanship and functional style. This legendary model served as the creative foundation for the Engineered Garments collaboration—celebrating heritage while inspiring a fresh, modern reinterpretation.
