Engineered Garments was founded by Daiki Suzuki in New
York in 1999, after taking inspiration from his years buying for
the Nepenthes stores in their early stages, and combining it
with his own vision. As a brand, our aim is to make garments
that become more personal through the experiences you
have with them. We value unique garment construction with
attention to detail, with meaning and hidden qualities behind
each design. We venture into conflicting themes, straying
from “perfect design”. We are not designed but engineered.
KARHU, meaning “bear” in Finnish, is a leading running
brand, and has provided technical running and outdoor gear
for 100 years. With an authentic heritage in athletics and a
deep connection to the outdoors, KARHU follows the Finnish
principles of design simplicity and running purity. KARHU shoes
have been worn on the feet of the greatest Finnish runners,
including Paavo Nurmi and five Boston Marathon champions.
During the 1960s and 70s, KARHU pioneered a number of new synthetic
materials and technologies in their running shoes including
nylon and air cushioning. The development of Air Cushion
began in the early 70s and was officially launched in 1977
with a shoe called the Champion (now Mestari). This was thegu.
first shoe to feature such technology which made KARHU
the first sport brand with a patent on an air cushion sole.
The Mestari was worn during international competition by top
Finnish runners such as Olavi Suomalainen and became a bestseller
for KARHU selling over 1,000,000 units worldwide at that time.
Together with Engineered Garments, KARHU would like to
reintroduce you to the Mestari, our best-selling model of all time
and the world’s first running shoe with Air Cushion technology.
The shoe features a unique, slip-on design with a secure cover
and hook and loop closure system, which is inspired by another
80s KARHU cross-country skiing mode