A pipe is a pipe, except when it has years of fashion industry experience behind it.
The world of fashion has met the world of cannabis, and they go well together.
Fashion industry veteran Armen Gregorian is bringing his experience to cannabis consumers with his stylish Mind At Ease (MAE) brand.
With more than a decade and a half of experience in the fashion industry, Armen Gregorian is also co-owner of Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent and CEO of the A.L.C. clothing company.
In November, Gregorian released MAE’s initial line of fashion-infused cannabis accessories, created by award-winning designer Joe Doucet.
Doucet’s past works have been on exhibit at the Design Museum in London and the International Design Biennial in Saint-Etienne.
In 2017, Doucet received the prestigious Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for product design.
At the core of MAE’s collection is a stylish selection of cannabis accessory essentials, including a grinder, a pipe, a humidor/stash, a clip, a water pipe.
The MAE ashtray stylizes your sesh.
The line also includes a sleek and shiny ashtray that instantly classes up a room, and a selection of CBD vape pens and cartridges.
To power the carts, MAE has “The Palm” battery which comes in two distinctly-fashionable styles; solid and engraved.
There’s also the brass Juul/Puffbar necklace, which fuses fashion and function in Rose Gold and Silver finishes.
MAE will soon offer boxes of CBD-infused artisanal chocolates as well.
According to the company, MAE products are discreet and take an elevated approach to cannabis.
MAE’s discreet and elevated approach includes making its vape products odorless.
I recently had the opportunity to ask Gregorian a few questions about the MAE brand, Joe Doucet, and their fanciful fusion of fashion and cannabis.
BC: I understand your daughter suggested cannabis as an alternative to wine. Was this your first experience with cannabis, or had you and Mary Jane previously met?
AG: From 1975 to 1979, I was an avid supporter and user of Mary Jane, as many were at that time. Looking back fondly at that era, I always think of the icons Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix, which gives me a sense of nostalgia. As I got older, I transitioned into being a wine drinker, to which my daughter suggested I try cannabis instead. After trying a bit of today’s flower, I couldn’t believe how much it had changed from the 70s. This sparked the creation of MAE.
BC: How did you come to choose Joe Doucet as the designer of the MAE product line?
AG: I’ve been a long-time fan of Joe Doucet’s recognizable work. His sleek design concepts create a luxurious feel, and that’s exactly what I wanted for MAE. He is one of the most prolific designers with deep-rooted experience working with big-name brands like Mont Blanc, Nike, and BMW, and is also the recipient of a National Design Award from Cooper Hewitt and the Smithsonian Design Museum. I knew that if I was going to bring world-class cannabis accessories into the market, I had to enlist the right person to design them.
BC: With MAE, you are bringing high fashion into the cannabis world. What have you seen that cannabis legalization has brought to the fashion industry?
AG: Because of the green rush in the U.S. market, we are seeing more and more fashion gatekeepers include cannabis in their latest collections, ranging from embroidered cannabis leaves on skirts and trousers to small odes to marijuana on dangle earrings. The beautiful thing about fashion is that it will always reflect what is happening in our culture and society. I believe fashion can help make the cannabis industry trendy and more widely accepted, influencing increased legalization throughout the country and better perceptions altogether.
AG: Additionally, celebrities and influencers always help. Fashion trendsetters like Miley Cyrus and Rihanna have contributed to making cannabis cool again, as they wear the plant on their everyday clothes and openly use it in their social media posts.
BC: Without giving away any proprietary secrets, how are terpenes used to make the THC and CBD oils in MAE cartridges odorless? That is an impressive feat.
AG: I wanted to create something that would give people an enjoyable but discreet high. In the essence of being discreet, I knew MAE’s cannabis couldn’t smell like cannabis. Without diving into the specifics too much, we removed the terpenes from our cannabis that give off the scent we’re all too familiar with.
BC: Where do you see MAE in the next few years? What goals do you have for the brand?
AG: As the legalization of marijuana continues to become a reality throughout the country, I hope to see MAE products in people’s homes everywhere. I have plans to produce more cannabis-related products and accessories, keeping up with the luxurious feel and design. We will be debuting our pre-rolls soon as well as our edibles and a new pipe. A lot of exciting things are on the horizon for MAE. I also think artisanal hemp CBD has massive potential – it’s already completely legalized, so I’m excited to see even more upward trajectory in this category and how we will incorporate it into the MAE brand.