THE MAHARISHI CAMOUFLAGE

The maharishi camouflage pattern, ‘Bonsai Cloud Forest’, introduced in 1999, was originally inspired by a blue and white Chinese watercolour painting. We took the pattern through several evolutions over a number of seasons, among them an attempt to create a typical camouflage-coloured version that resulted in the dense four-colour woodland/desert cross ‘Bonsai Forest’ pattern. 

Incorporated into the design were symbols of peace and nature such as bonsai trees growing from heavenly clouds, as well as temples and Japanese katakana script. The success of ‘Bonsai Forest’ in expressing the concept of a demilitarised and beautiful camouflage led to its adoption as the maharishi house camouflage pattern and was released alongside various different camouflages in subsequent collections. 

Inspired by some hunting patterns and the desire to assist in identifying pattern names, the Japanese text was eventually replaced with the English text ‘FOREST DPM: BONSAI’. In 2003, further changes were made when a dragon was added to the design and the camouflage was printed at a 45-degree angle.