Keizo Shimizu founded Nepenthes in Japan in 1988 as a distribution company built around his fascination with Americana and Ivy League style, importing made-in-USA garments for the Japanese market. He was later joined by designer Daiki Suzuki, who moved to New York and began putting out small collections under the Engineered Garments label starting in 1999, drawing on American workwear and military uniforms. Nepenthes opened its New York store in 1998, and Suzuki's first full Engineered Garments collection followed in 2002, still operating out of an unassuming storefront in the Garment District.