CITY Issue 59

CITIZENS / HARDY BLECHMAN THE TAOOF BLECHMAN Maharishi founder reflects on 15 years of environment-inspired design By Alyson Sheppard H ardy Blechman was . ll he wanted to do was go to Southeast sia, t avel a ound like all those othe antsy B itish boys his age, and etu n home with adventu e sto ies. Sto ies he could tell that ivaled his g andfathe ’s (who had ﬂed to South f ica f om eligious pe secution in Lithuania) and his fathe ’s (who had ﬂed to England a e witnessing pa theid in South f ica). But he found a lot mo e than adventu e sto ies; he found a new way of thinking that would emain with him th oughout his jou ney to become one of the most innovative fashion designe s today. “The gene al diﬀe ences in cultu al attitudes had the most p ofound aﬀect on me,” Blechman said. Open minded and cu ious, he fell in love with Thailand and its cultu e. “Bhutan has mo e monks than soldie s. Whilst I don’t conside myself Buddhist, spending time the e helped me assimilate many Buddhist p incipals into my own thinking and inspi ed thoughts on typical Weste n consumption.” He lived the e fo a yea and a half. Despe ate to stay in the a ea, he took a job wo king fo a clothes make in Indonesia. Blechman became inc easingly fascinated with o ganic ﬁbe s and hemps, which we e gentle on fa ming soil than cotton, and a my su plus fatigues, which we e du able, p actical, and eusable. He decided to begin p oducing his own clothes, using mate ials that we e uncha ted te ito y fo designe s up until that point, but which we e impo tant fo Blechman because they encou aged envi onmental sustainability. nd so, his explosive fashion-designing ca ee began. Today, Ha dy Blechman is . His company, Maha ishi (Sansk it fo “g eat vision”), is conside ed one of the most inﬂuential and o iginal U.K. b ands. His clothes a e available in count ies, designe fashion sto es, and showooms in London, Pa is, and New o k. He was named St eetwea Designe of the ea at the B itish Fashion Council wa ds, and his Snopants we e called the most copied pants of the decade by ena magazine. nd th ough all of the fame, Blechman’s company has emained p ivately owned, ensu ing his ideals conce ning the envi onment a e a ticulated within his collections. “The g eatest beneﬁt of spending time in othe cultu es is the way it opens you mind to mo e than one pe spective,” he said. “Feeling conﬁdent that the e isn’t one p eset model to follow has allowed me to exp ess new ideas. I have st ong ethics and design p incipals beyond fashion t ends, and it has al- 60 CITY TY PORTRAIT BY ALIYA NAUMOFF

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CITY Issue 59

CITY Issue 59 Contents Have You Heard? Our Friends Action Wanted City Moment Diary Temporary Contemporary In Rogue The Amused Bouche Fast Food Tara Subkoff Alvarourbano Hardy Blachman Javier Peres Cult Classic Dream Jewels London Calling Argentina Good Airs Mission from God Your Place, and Mine One City, Many Destinations I'm Good, I'm Gone. 7 Hour Overdrive Where to Buy It Cityscape

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