Return of A Rebel

Since their much touted revival last year, 90s snow-trouser favourite Maharishi have been firmly staking their place among the streetwear flavoured giants of LC:M. This season found them in a familiar mode, with military influences and a characteristic rebelliousness dominating their designs. Even the models bucked Fashion convention, not just because some were middle-aged (and beyond) with wild hair or craggy faces and unkempt beards, but also because they pointed at audience members, shouted and, at the end, even came out dancing; a welcome remedy for all the po-faced seriousness and dead eyed distance that accompanies fashion week.

Straps, Patches and Pockets

The clothes themselves took inspiration from the “ritualistic observances” and uniforms of global subcultures. This manifested itself in pieces covered in badges or printed with insignia (between Full Metal Jacket style scrawlings, an enlarged version of the Lacoste crocodile turned up frequently – an ode to the kinship of casuals and hooligans?) as well as an abundance of camouflage: this is Maharishi, after all. Amid the riot of embellishment and lurid camo, highlights were Helmut Lang style trousers with horizontal straps running down the legs, and flannel field jackets with a wonderful excess of pockets – a fine take on utility-wear, and one which recalls some of Issey Miyake’s most coveted multi-pocketed pieces.

Ready for War

Maharishi’s speciality has often been to embody their own anti-war ideology and political stance in their clothing. That is, to re-contextualize and pacify military-wear in much the same way as the hippies of the 60s adopted the Vietnam field jacket as their counter-cultural uniform. This season, the brand’s masterstroke was a knitted version of a Kevlar vest (in wearable black but also, more subversively, in peach, of all colours), which really tells you everything you need to know about Maharishi’s skill with transmuting army surplus staples into something truly original.