The Original Snopants® Story
Snopants® have been long established as Maharishi's signature trouser, having featured in each collection since 1996.
Founded in 1994 by Hardy Blechman, Maharishi originally offered only upcycled military surplus and hemp based products in keeping with an environmental vision that aimed at producing well constructed, long lasting, utilitarian clothing.
Following initial success in over dyeing and adding embroidery to U.S. Army 1960s deadstock, Maharishi were forced to re-create versions of the most popular styles when vintage stocks ran out, resulting in the birth of the Original Snopants®.
Snopants® were first offered with large hand-machined Eastern embroideries in 1996 and by 2000 were named “the most copied pant of the decade” in a millennium round up by Arena magazine.
Loosely based on white U.S. Snow Camouflage Over Trousers Refining and improving on the original design, modifications were made to the silhouette and construction, and accessories were completely overhauled. Additional functionality was added in the form of the patented Snocord® and Snobutton® system - allowing the wearer to fully adjust the trouser length.
Intricate free-hand machined embroideries have become synonymous with Snopants®, consistently offered with seasonal artworks in a variety of fabrics, as well as loose, straight, and cargo variants.
Whilst the Original Dragon embroidery bought the much of that pre-Internet hype, being represented by everybody from the Wu Tang’s RZA to Madonna, artworks were also produced in limited editions from ‘95 with guest artists including UK painter and sculptor Toby Ziegler and New York second and later generation graffiti artists Sharp, Stash, KAWS and in the year 2000, Futura.
