Hardy Blechman on the Versatility of Camouflage and the Religious Motifs in maharishi’s 2016 Spring/Summer LCM Show
Hardy Blechman
Founder and Creative Director of maharishi
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Hardy Blechman is a British designer and the founder of renowned streetwear brand maharishi. Born in Bournemouth in 1963, Blechman grew up collecting cigarette cards, military medals and Judo belts. After embarking on a “psychedelic journey” during time spent in Southeast Asia during his teens and early twenties, Blechman began working for an Indonesian clothing supplier.
Founding maharishi in 1994 with an accompanying factory in India, Blechman initially set out to challenge the status quo in the fashion industry by making clothes out of hemp. Although this ultimately proved unsuccessful, his side project repurposing surplus industrial and military garments took off. Having pioneered the popular urban warrior look of the ‘90s, Blechman arguable defined the look of the latter half of the ‘90s with his 1995 Snopants design, which won him the title of “Streetwear Designer of the Year” of the British Fashion Council Awards in 2000. Blechman also spent over a decade researching and writing an encyclopedic tome of knowledge on camouflage called DPM: Disruptive Pattern Material, which was published in 2010. Blechman continues to hone his aesthetic and philosophy of “pacifist military design” through maharishi to this day.
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Both functional and innovative, maharishi caters to the urban, street-ready audience looking for modern iterations of military garbs.
Conversing about the origins of camouflage, maharishi founder Hardy Blechman sits down with PORT
