Field Notes from the Farm: If Simplicity Had a Shape—The Story Behind the New MARAI Fanny Pack

Field Notes from the Farm. The longer I live here on the farm, the more my perspective on things changes. Maybe it’s because nature doesn’t let you rush. Out here, there’s no algorithm that determines what’s important. No surface vying for attention. Things are allowed to be simple.

An old wooden beam bears the marks of decades. A stone has lain in the same spot for years. A plant doesn’t grow any faster just because it wants to be more beautiful. Nature never tries to be more than it is. And perhaps that is precisely where its strength lies. It is clear. It is honest. It is timeless.

These thoughts come to mind time and again as I develop new MARAI pieces. I ask myself not only, “What does a product need?” but also, “What feeling should it bring into our lives?” In a world where so much is becoming faster, louder, and more complex, another question has been on my mind for some time now:

If Simplicity had a shape—what would it be?

I don't envision a perfect form—not one that seems cold or distant. Rather, a form that radiates calm. A form that seems natural. A form that doesn't try to draw attention to itself, and that is precisely why it has character.

Perhaps it would be graphic and clear. Not because less is automatically better, but because clarity sometimes creates more space—space for what really matters.

Simplicity Fanny Pack - Launch on July 26

From an Idea to a Form

A few months ago, we asked you on Instagram what your ideal fanny pack would look like. I was interested in what you really wanted—not what’s currently trending, but which piece would accompany you in your everyday life. The answer was surprisingly clear: a simple, graphic design. No unnecessary details—something timeless that can grow with you and provide you with support.

These ideas have been incorporated into the development of our new fanny pack. It is perhaps one of the most graphic designs MARAI has ever created. Its shape is cleaner, and its lines are more deliberately defined.

And yet it remains what defines MARAI: warm, natural, and steeped in history. Because this piece, too, is crafted from leather that already carries a story. We use vegetable-tanned leather that would otherwise have gone unused. A material that doesn’t start out perfectly new, but has already traveled a path. We give it a second life and shape it into something new.

Perhaps that, too, is a form of simplicity: not always looking for something new, but recognizing what is already there.

Things That Can Stay

I think that today, more than ever, we long for things that aren’t just made to last a moment.

Things that don’t disappear after a season.
Things that live on with us.
Things that bear small marks of use.
Things that collect stories.
Things that take on greater meaning over time.

For me, simplicity doesn't mean having less. It means greater awareness. Greater clarity. And the decision to surround myself with things that will still feel right tomorrow.

That's the idea behind our new fanny pack. A design born of tranquility. A design that's here to stay. I'm very excited to finally introduce our new fanny pack to you on July 26.

I've been wearing it myself for several months now; it's been my daily companion while working on the farm, going about my daily life, and during all the little moments in between.

That makes it all the more wonderful for me to officially share them with you now and pass them on from my own little MARAI world into your hands.

Related Links & Inspiration:
Here you'll find our July edition on the topic of Simplicity
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