What happened to Maharishi?

Photo by net-a-porter.

Looks like one of my all time favourite brands - Maharishi - has closed down operations.

In my mind, Hardy Blechman who started Maharishi as early as 1994, has been one the most inspirational and visionary designers i can think of. The Snopants - was probably the most copied pant design in the late 90s. Maharishi (sanskrit for 'great vision') was founded on the idea of reworking old military surplus gear through dyeing, printing and embroidery. Hardy had worked for commercial fashion brands before and was early on committed to sustainable practices and the use of natural fibers but found it hard to convince leadership to actually use these materials. He introduced Hemp into the line because of the downside of cotton growing. Funny how more then 15 years later it's still hard to change to a more environmentally sound way of garment production. Sure it needs a whole new production infrastructure which is hard to carve out for big brands if your eyes are always on the bottom line or Wall Street.

I found this interview with Hardy Blechman on Format Magazine.

I am glad to have bought quite a couple of Maharishi items throughout the last 10 years and even though i have worn them so many times i still treasure them greatly. i will feature some of them over the next couple of weeks and explain why i bought it in the first place.

First up - The one-shoulder dragon top i wore at my wedding!




look at how the dragon wraps itself from front to back!




Just look at the beauty of this interior label. Isn't that what attention to detail is all about. You are not getting any bang for your buck here but people like myself enjoy this so much! This label alone makes the garment special.

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