diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index c4bc807f..fbc7a931 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ gem "mini_magick", "~> 3.4"
 gem "fog", "~> 1.1.2"
 gem "carrierwave", "~> 0.5.8"
 
+gem "parallel", "~> 0.5.17"
+
 group :development_async do
   # async wrappers
   gem 'eventmachine',     :git => 'git://github.com/eventmachine/eventmachine.git'
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 5f8ee08b..8aaf89fd 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@ GEM
     open4 (1.3.0)
     openneo-auth-signatory (0.1.0)
       ruby-hmac
+    parallel (0.5.17)
     polyglot (0.3.3)
     rack (1.2.5)
     rack-fiber_pool (0.9.2)
@@ -256,6 +257,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   newrelic_rpm
   nokogiri (~> 1.5.2)
   openneo-auth-signatory (~> 0.1.0)
+  parallel (~> 0.5.17)
   rack-fiber_pool
   rails (= 3.0.5)
   rdiscount (~> 1.6.5)
diff --git a/app/models/outfit.rb b/app/models/outfit.rb
index f2930254..f26a034d 100644
--- a/app/models/outfit.rb
+++ b/app/models/outfit.rb
@@ -138,25 +138,28 @@ class Outfit < ActiveRecord::Base
   # file.
   def create_image!(output)
     unless image_layers.empty?
-      base_layer = image_layers.first
-      above_layers = image_layers[1..-1]
-      write_temp_swf_asset_image!(base_layer, output)
-      output.close
-
-      unless above_layers.empty?
-        Tempfile.open(['outfit_overlay', '.png']) do |overlay|
-          above_layers.each do |layer|
-            overlay.open
-            write_temp_swf_asset_image! layer, overlay
-            overlay.close
-            
-            previous_image = MiniMagick::Image.open(output.path)
-            overlay_image = MiniMagick::Image.open(overlay.path)
-            output_image = previous_image.composite(overlay_image)
-            output_image.write output.path
-          end
-        end
+      temp_image_files = Parallel.map(image_layers, :in_threads => 8) do |swf_asset|
+        image_file = Tempfile.open(['outfit_layer', '.png'])
+        write_temp_swf_asset_image!(swf_asset, image_file)
+        image_file.close
+        image_file
       end
+      
+      # Here we do some awkwardness to get the exact ImageMagick command we
+      # want, though it's still less awkward than handling the command
+      # ourselves. Give all of the temporary images as input, flatten them and
+      # write them to the output path.
+      command = MiniMagick::CommandBuilder.new('convert')
+      temp_image_files.each { |image_file| command.push image_file.path }
+      command.layers 'flatten'
+      command.push output.path
+      
+      # Though the above command really is sufficient, we still need a dummy
+      # image to handle execution.
+      output_image = MiniMagick::Image.new(output.path)
+      output_image.run(command)
+      
+      temp_image_files.each(&:unlink)
     else
       output.close
     end
diff --git a/vendor/cache/parallel-0.5.17.gem b/vendor/cache/parallel-0.5.17.gem
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6b2fec49
Binary files /dev/null and b/vendor/cache/parallel-0.5.17.gem differ