The Genesis of "Woods and Shore."
In late 2022, Manabu Gaku Inada met with Daiki Suzuki to define the visual soul of the FW23 collection. Their dialogue sparked the concept of a fictional outdoor brand and storefront—a "ghost label" woven into the collection's identity.
Drawing on the nostalgic charm of 1950s and 60s Outdoor Life and Field and Stream advertisements, Gaku drew on his cinematic instincts to visualize the store’s architecture, from its weathered exterior to its curated interior. To bridge their shared passion for surfing with the rugged outdoors, he conceived two distinct locations: the mountains of Upstate New York and the metropolitan shoreline.
This synthesis of terrain gave birth to the name: "Woods and Shore."
In late 2022, Manabu Gaku Inada met with Daiki Suzuki to define the visual soul of the FW23 collection. Their dialogue sparked the concept of a fictional outdoor brand and storefront—a "ghost label" woven into the collection's identity.
Drawing on the nostalgic charm of 1950s and 60s Outdoor Life and Field and Stream advertisements, Gaku drew on his cinematic instincts to visualize the store’s architecture, from its weathered exterior to its curated interior. To bridge their shared passion for surfing with the rugged outdoors, he conceived two distinct locations: the mountains of Upstate New York and the metropolitan shoreline.
This synthesis of terrain gave birth to the name: "Woods and Shore."
Brand: Nepenthes America, Engineered Garments
Artist: Manabu Gaku Inada
Year: 2023
An avid fisherman and friend noted a subtle, deliberate detail in the artwork: the fish’s fins possess characteristics of both freshwater and saltwater species. This anatomical hybrid serves as a visual metaphor for the "Woods and Shore" concept—a world where the mountain streams of Upstate New York and the Atlantic coastline seamlessly converge.
Gaku sought to preserve the raw, organic texture of pencil strokes in the final prints—a feat that pushed the technical limits of traditional screen printing, which often struggles to capture such delicate, granular nuances.
The collection serves as a visual metaphor for the modern urbanite—those who navigate the city’s grid while keeping their hearts anchored in the wilderness—infused with a spirited sense of playfulness.
The typographic layout draws its DNA from the rugged branding of 1960s outdoor labels and the bold, blocky aesthetics of vintage university sweatshirts, creating a sense of nostalgic authority.
The landscape merges mountain and sea in a composition that evokes the nostalgic charm of a 1970s mountain-shop novelty, capturing that era's sense of wonder and rustic simplicity.
During the conceptual sketching phase, several names were carefully weighed as potential candidates, each representing a different facet of the collection’s dual identity, before "Woods and Shore" emerged as the definitive choice.
