When Cinema Meets Craft – The P.F. Flyers x Engineered Garments Visual Story
In January 2026, P.F. Flyers (est. 1933) and Engineered Garments redefined the classic silhouette with a bold, laceless collaboration. But beyond the footwear lies a visionary campaign crafted by visual artist Manabu Gaku Inada.
Crafting the Illusion
The aesthetic wasn't achieved through simple digital filters. Instead, Gaku revisited a tactile technique from EG’s first-ever film, Not Design But Engineered: Physical Dioramas.
By building and photographing miniature sets and digitally compositing the models (shot on a green screen), the team created a layered, hauntingly beautiful atmosphere. It is a world where heritage craftsmanship meets the limitless possibilities of the multiverse.
Brand: Engineered Garments, P.F. Flyers
Photography, Visual Arts: Manabu Gaku Inada
Model: Julian Dersin
Year: 2026
Brand: Engineered Garments, P.F. Flyers
Photography, Visual Arts: Manabu Gaku Inada
Model: Julian Dersin
Year: 2026
The Four Pillars of the Visual Concept
The team developed four distinct motifs to anchor the collection, blending history, cinema, and pure imagination:
The team developed four distinct motifs to anchor the collection, blending history, cinema, and pure imagination:
The Marienbad Twist: A surreal blend of the 1961 French classic Last Year at Marienbad and the dizzying, avant-garde spirals of Hitchcock’s Vertigo.
The Safari Spirit: Inspired by the film Hatari!, translating raw sketches into a cinematic wilderness.
The NYC Heights: A gritty tribute to the ironworkers who built the New York skyline.
The Multiverse: A mind-bending scenario where versions of the same character—summoned from three different eras and dimensions—meet amidst the chaos of space-time.
Not Design, But Engineered: Building the Frame.
Revisiting the analog roots of EG’s first cinematic venture, the set became a laboratory for the avant-garde. Witness how physical models and green-screen technology collided to create a seamless, multidimensional reality.
Revisiting the analog roots of EG’s first cinematic venture, the set became a laboratory for the avant-garde. Witness how physical models and green-screen technology collided to create a seamless, multidimensional reality.
Shrinking reality to expand the imagination.
From miniature to infinite. Orchestrating a surreal architectural labyrinth through the deliberate arrangement of small-scale forms.
The synthesis of subject and setting. On the left, the character; on the right, the foundation. Flat planes are transformed into architectural forms through the precision of origami.
A meta-cinematic approach. The exposed edges of the set serve as a deliberate reminder that this "multiverse" was engineered, not just rendered.
A focal point in the void. Looking up through the architectural labyrinth, the floating chandelier remains my favorite detail of the miniature set.
Animals sprinting through the dry, hot safari wind. Create a moment that transforms two dimensions into three dimensions.
Merging Realities.
Translating vision into form. I maintained a library of rough sketches for each hand-built element, capturing the miniatures through the lens exactly as I had envisioned the final composition.
Precision in the interim. Daiki Suzuki (EG) is adjusting the model's styling during a break in Gaku's session. A testament to the hands-on philosophy of Engineered Garments.
Constructing the surreal. From these delicate, cut-out miniature skyscrapers, an imagined New York begins to take shape.
From ink to infinity. Gaku’s original sketch—the definitive starting point for our cinematic journey.
Where analog dioramas meet digital horizons. The gateway to the multiverse.
Two scales, one frame: The live-action model meets the engineered miniature stage.
Wear the Heritage, Walk the Multiverse.
The century-long legacy of P.F. Flyers meets the multi-layered vision of Engineered Garments. This collaboration is more than just a release; it is an invitation to wear a piece of a world where cinematic memory and raw craftsmanship collide.
The century-long legacy of P.F. Flyers meets the multi-layered vision of Engineered Garments. This collaboration is more than just a release; it is an invitation to wear a piece of a world where cinematic memory and raw craftsmanship collide.
The chaos constructed within these dioramas now finds its way to the streets. Step beyond the boundaries of time and space. The journey begins at your feet.
Special thanks to: Daiki Suzuki (EG) and Ryan Resurrecction (EG).
Special thanks to: Daiki Suzuki (EG) and Ryan Resurrecction (EG).
Featured site: [The P.F. Flyers x Engineered Garments CollaborationI
