SS16 sees the return of DPM: British Bonsai, a disruptive pattern that combines the elements of the long standing (until recently) UK military pattern with elements of Maharishi’s house pattern Bonsai Forest, which incorporates Bonsai tree shapes growing from heavenly clouds, reminding us that camouflage has its roots in nature.
The colour palette includes purple and golden brown, derived from Roman Catholic traditions and a bright orange referencing the robes of Thai Buddhist monks, whose symbolic usage of this beacon colour is shared with the U.S. Army’s reversible MA1 flight jackets.
The Desert colourway is inspired by a 2 colour version that the British issued hurriedly in 1991, a little shamefully, as it was necessitated by the fact that they sold uniforms (and arms) to Iraq in 1989 and then declared war on them in 1991. The MOD refused to send troops to war dressed identically to their Iraqi enemies, so created a simpler and more sparse 2 colour version.
In a further effort to reinforce the fact that Maharishi use camouflage as an expression of nature and art, rather than as a tool by which to conceal oneself from an enemy, all the camouflage styles in SS16 are fully reversible, enabling the pattern to be worn internally.
