Between The Lines 008: Nepenthes
In Conversation with Nepenthes Brand Manager OIly Smith
Words: Siân Toolan
For three decades, NEPENTHES has blended American and Japanese design, and the borders between the two, all whilst staying relatively under the radar. Whether you know their name or how to pronounce it, there’s no doubt you’ve encountered the handiwork of NEPENTHES on the footwear scene. From Needles x Vans luxe crushed velvet Slip-Ons, Suicoke sandals with interlocking Vibram LEGO-like outsoles, or the unmissable multicoloured Engineered Garments x HOKA ONE ONE Bondi B, NEPENTHES are masters of collaboration. We sat down with Brand Manager Olly Smith to discuss their multifaceted and aspirational approach, remaining relevant, and bringing NEPENTHES to the UK..…
NEPENTHES was established by Keizo Shimizu in 1988. Infatuated with the fashion, film and music of Americana and the at-leisure Ivy League look, Shimizu envisioned a distribution company that would import Made-in-USA garments to Japan. Enlisting friend and fellow enthusiast Daiki Suzuki as a buyer, the first NEPENTHES store opened in Tokyo the following year. Suzuki spent the next few years courting manufacturers and up-and-coming designers across the United States while Shimizu focused on developing original, refined products. Needles was born in 1995 in the form of a simple, unstructured suit jacket inspired by the wardrobe of a young Miles Davis. In 1998, Suzuki launched NEPENTHES New York, followed by his own fully-formed brand Engineered Garments in 2002. With two brands in tow, NEPENTHES adopted South2 West8 from a small store in Sapporo, Japan, and produced its first collection in 2003. Since then, the NEPENTHES umbrella has developed an insane array of products for its house brands, with a list of fruitful collaborations, whilst curating each store with a selection of affiliated brands, from AiE to Sasquatchfabrix. NEPENTHES London opened in early 2019.
What makes NEPENTHES so fascinating is its ability to cross categories and create wildly different products that “find a synergy with one another” explains Smith. The Needles aesthetic itself is hard to pin down, in its unorthodox combinations of the American Old West, military style, the hippie movement and leisurewear. It is an assemblage of the defining eras of American culture and dress, reimagined in Japanese textile. It has its own sub-labels, Rebuild by Needles, which reworks vintage flannels and surplus, and Needles Sportswear, infamous for its opulent take on the track-pant, emblazoned with the classic butterfly embroidery. Whilst inspired by the tattoo on Steve McQueen’s chest in the film Papillon, the butterfly is a perfect emblem for the metamorphic nature of Needles and perhaps NEPENTHES as a whole.
Engineered Garments x Hoka Bondi B
Engineered Garments is a workwear-inspired brand set out to showcase made-in-NYC clothing, at a time the Garment District was dwindling. The brand is both quintessentially American, with chinos and oxford shirts, and avant-garde in its meticulously engineered detailing. Piecing together highly functional military shapes, with single needle stitching, and pockets galore, EG offers “an everyday uniform” compared to the statement pieces of Needles. That said, South2 West8’s is the most technical brand to date, made for Tenkara, the traditional Japanese method of fly fishing. It is primarily focused on practicality, moving beyond clothing into gears such as waders and rods, but the brand’s playful nature makes it perfect for the gorpcore crowd. South2 West8 has transformed into a lifestyle brand and, in NEPENTHES family fashion, “is adaptable in so many senses”, says Smith.
Troentorp x Needles Safety Smooth Steel Toe
NEPENTHES has fostered a significant cultural effect from East to West, which Olly Smith attributes to consistency. Trading for thirty years, but maintaining its mystique, “it has lasted so long and remained so relevant because it has never really changed its process”. From Shimizu’s Needles to Suzuki’s Engineered Garments, the NEPENTHES approach is about “always doing what you're into”, regardless of trends. South2 West8 wasn’t founded in the era of hyper-functional fashion, it just so happens that its aesthetic has “filtered into current culture”, as the kids are seeking out outdoor brands. Arguably ahead of its time, NEPENTHES is about “chasing passions, not what is popular ''. As Smith surmises “the beauty of it is that you don't have to chase things, eventually they just come around”.
Engineered Garments x New Balance 990V5
Just as they trust trends to come around, with each store or brand, NEPENTHES trusts they’ll find their customer and their customer will find them. Consistent with their other six stores, NEPENTHES London is intentionally hard to find but even harder to leave. Tucked away in Woburn Walk, a pedestrian pocket of Bloomsbury, the Grade II listed location is far from London’s notorious shopping districts and as such doesn’t see a great deal of passing trade. This set-up establishes NEPENTHES as a destination store, with a committed following willing to go the distance. “We get to provide pretty much a private shopping experience”, with a more substantial and experimental stock than UK wholesale accounts. They’re even bringing the boot cut back. It is an ideal and hard-to-replicate retail model that allows for insight and connection with their customer base. As Brand Manager, Smith’s role involves buying and collaborative projects. One way in which NEPENTHES could appeal to the “multi-brand” nature of UK shoppers is its commitment to this collaboration.
Suicoke x Needles Geta Sandal
From Engineered Garments x Uniqlo to Asap Rocky × Needles AWGE Track Pants, the last decade has seen innumerable NEPENTHES collaborations, that have touched bases with various corners of the industry and teetered on the edge of the mainstream. With each endeavour, the NEPENTHES magic lies in “the balance of commerciality and passion”, working on projects that reach new customers, without drastically altering the trajectory of the brand. “With big collaborations, you don't want to upset the customer that enjoys your brand and wants to keep it as their little secret” explains Smith, fresh off the tail of Supreme x South2 West8. Their Spring 2021 collaboration resulted in a sizeable collection of tie-dye graphic fishing gear, fleeces, and accessories, that opened a niche brand out to just “a few more people”. Perfected over the years by Shimizu and Suzuki, the recipe for successful collaboration is respecting the knowledge of your collaborator. “We're not there to tell people how to do things, but more to adapt and see how to bring our worlds together”. The mainstay of any collaboration is “that you're only enhancing what is already a substantial item”, and this is perhaps best demonstrated in NEPENTHES’ expansive footwear collection.
Supreme x South2 West8
South2 West8 x SPECTUSSHOECO
If you take a trip to Woburn Walk, NEPENTHES New York, or Tokyo, one of the first things you’ll notice is the vast and eclectic range of footwear. With sneakers, shoes, boots and sandals, NEPENTHES has potentially created one of London’s finest shoe boutiques, putting its spin on everything from Converse, Vans, Dr. Martens, Tricker’s, Sebago and more. Like their clothing collaborations, the idea is to work with their founders’ current interests, form long-lasting partnerships and “create silhouettes and shapes for the Nepenthes lifestyle”. Sneakers were always part of the NEPENTHES DNA, way before sneaker culture reached critical mass, and some of our all-time favourite sneaker collabs are NEPENTHES born. In 2019, Engineered Garments translated their utilitarian aesthetic onto a patchwork New Balance 990v5, featuring mismatched pairs of leather, suede, and crocodile-embossed nubuck. In the same year, they released those flamboyant HOKA ONE ONE Bondi Bs. Our current highlights include the aforementioned Needles x Suicoke Geta Sandals, whose Vibram Wurstel Soles clip together to be packed into an accompanying tote bag, or Needles x TROENTORP steel-toe clogs. “We’ve formalised [the clog] and made it a dress shoe,” says Smith, who cites TROENTORP as the shoe of the moment. “It’s that weird Nepenthes trick or synergy again, where it seems to touch base with trends naturally,” opposed to forcing it. “Across all demographics, all genders, the shoe has been able to connect us to a whole new audience,” just as good collaboration does.
As NEPENTHES is now more accessible to its UK customer base, the London outpost may make way for some exciting European projects, or some “that you wouldn't expect”. The idea is “to push our continued aesthetic and take the best elements of the brands that we collaborate with”, without chasing partners, units, trends, or even celebrity endorsements, clarifies Smith. An essential part of the NEPENTHES London venture, Olly Smith is an analytical buyer, a creative collaborator, and ultimately a storyteller. While NEPENTHES has established an online presence in recent years, particularly in response to the pandemic, we have to say, it cannot match the experience of visiting Smith in-store.