Hardy Blechman is the man behind the Marharishi fashion label, which spearheaded 1990s combat chic. He customised his Zoomer with DPM – Disruptive Pattern Material
“My Zoomer has been very useful for my daily journeys between head office in Hackney and the store in Covent Garden. The leather I’ve added is luxurious, but also hard-wearing. I’ve attached BMX-style pads to the handlebars and the back to act as handles for when I need to lift it up steps. And the camouflage waterproof cover comes in useful when I leave it outside. The wider handlebars were inspired very much by those on Steve McQueen’s motorbike in The Great Escape.”
“The beauty of customisation is that it can go in any direction – there are as many perceptions of great style in the world as there are souls. And the boundary between customisation and design is increasingly blurring. A current example of this, and one of my favourites, is the world’s best toy designer Michel Lau’s Mr Shoe – 100 customisations of a Nike shoe.”
“I also own a monkey bike and I think the Zoomer follows in that tradition of cleverly designed and well built scooters by Honda. It’s more honest chunky and durable, and has more charisma than most scooters currently available. It allows people to express themselves by imprinting their own personality. It represents the ‘democratisation of design’, in that it puts design decisions in the hands of the consumer.”
“People in the street are interested in this camouflage customisation and I’ve told them about the Maharishi connection. My aim is to present an alternative perspective on camouflage by using it outside of its military context. This ‘Bonsai Forrest’ pattern represents camouflage’s natural and artistic heritage – the clouds and trees refer to how shapes and colours of camouflage patterns mimic the natural world. It is sometimes forgotten that artists from many disciplines played important roles in the development of military camouflage.”
For more info on Zoomer Scooters go here www.zoomerzine.com