Nepenthes

It’s a drug that cures all your woes—and a carnivorous plant. That’s the contradiction behind the word, and the store, Nepenthes. Part of the same Tokyo-based collective that begat Engineered Garments, Nepenthes has been around since 1988, but the cult favorite didn’t have a U.S. outpost until opening a New York location in Hell’s Kitchen in 2010. Spurred by a love for Americana, heritage brands, and classic menswear—seen from a uniquely Japanese perspective—personality is achieved through the proverbial twist. That means Mark McNairy long wing brogues with alternating scotch- and smooth-grain leathers; a native-print blanket bomber jacket with leather sleeves; and the subtle addition of a cross neck to the classic white T-shirt. As store manager Abdul Abasi put it, Nepenthes is, “A place where special people come to find special things.” But true to their contrarian nature, the store isn’t just that either: Residing within the same space is an art gallery, a rotating designer (Schott NYC, Post O'alls, McNairy) pop-up shop, and Daiki Suzuki’s studio for Engineered Garments. "Nepenthes will never be trendy, that’s not the goal," says Abasi. "But everything you buy at our store has a certain level of quality, a certain level of charm. It’s something we really believe in."